


Just a little Dare

by huliganships



Category: One Piece
Genre: A Lot of hands are being held in this, A couple that Fights together stays together, Aggressive handholding, Blushing, Emotional Hurt, Eventual Happy Ending, Every romantic trope you can think of, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Food Fight, Getting Together, M/M, Making Out, Minor Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pet Names, Romantic Comedy, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Soft Handholding, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26684155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huliganships/pseuds/huliganships
Summary: Zoro had always known that one of these days his stubborn and competitive nature would get the better of him.But he hadn't expected the bet. Or everything that would follow after.Fuck.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 127
Kudos: 312





	1. The Bet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sigrid20002](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sigrid20002/gifts), [Plume8now](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plume8now/gifts).



> Hello, my lovelies!  
> Once again I present you a project between me and the discord server of [Yumenofude](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plume8now/gifts). The brainstorming was done mainly by her and by [Sigrid20002](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sigrid20002). The last time it was Angst, so now it's Fluff time!  
> I really hope you all enjoy this. I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you all have fun reading. I would love to hear your thoughts about it!  
> The story is already complete so I'll be posting a chapter every day or two.  
> Lots of Love xxx

It started innocently enough.

Since the day they met, they had butted heads. Well, maybe not the day they met. On that day there was a lot of screaming, and fighting, and bleeding, and other unpleasant things. But shortly after when they were chasing after Nami the bickering started. After that came the insulting and the name-calling. And after that came the honest to god brawls.

Now, brawls weren’t an uncommon thing in the Strawhat Crew. Everyone fought sometimes and it could be fun to wrestle. 

Not Zoro and Sanji though. 

They were always at each other’s throat, trying to one-up the other in everything they did.

Hunting? There was a competition about which one had brought in the bigger kill.

Fighting marines? There was a competition about who had managed to defeat more of them.

Chores around the ship? There was a fight about who was fastest or could do more.

No day went by with at least one little fight or competition between the swordsman and the cook. It was nothing to look twice at and it was part of their daily lives by now. Honestly, it would probably freak everyone out more if they weren’t fighting.

That wasn’t to say that they didn’t get along. There were times when they could hold civil conversations or work together peacefully. But sadly it wasn’t nearly as often as some of the others would like.

Next to the bickering about who was better at something, there was another common theme. The two would accuse the other of being boring or repetitive. Like how Zoro was essentially a one-trick pony, never deviating from his fighting styles and showing no creativity or flexibility in his styles. Or how Sanji’s behavior towards women wasn’t only annoying but also boring and expected, no break or development in his characteristics.

Their fights or competitions often started with one or the other claiming to be the best at something and that no one, especially not Sanji or Zoro could even be considered competition.

So it shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that it had come to this.

* * *

Their crew had decided to not party on the ship tonight. One reason was that they had zero bottles of alcohol left and hadn’t had the chance to restock yet. But if their captain wanted to party, they needed to party. So after only a minimal amount of complaining from Nami about the waste of money that would be they had hit the local bar.

The problem was that the local bar was also the only bar in a very tiny harbor town. They had stopped here in hopes of refilling their supplies but had only been able to buy the bare necessities. They would have to find another harbor and soon. But to tide over their fun-loving captain, the bar solution had been proposed. So, after buying everything they could they had settled at the biggest table in the small, dingy bar and started to demolish the stock of alcohol that still remained at the island. 

The evening had been going great. There had been minimal fighting between the Strawhats and the villagers and the Strawhats and each other. The last few bottles of the evening had just been brought over to their table. While Brook was distributing the bottles, Zoro and Sanji were locked in one of their heated debates about the other being unoriginal and boring.

“Boring?” Sanji exclaimed, swinging his bottle through the air. “I’ll show you boring!” And with that, he put the bottle to his lips and emptied in a few big gulps. Zoro only snorted.

“And how’s that not boring? I can do that in my sleep.” He went to grab his bottle but the cook was faster and swiped it right from underneath Zoro's nose. Enraged Zoro turned back towards him, ready to chew him out, but the words were stuck in his throat. Sanji had already emptied the second bottle as well and was now placing the two empty ones in front of Zoro.

“Beat that!” he crowed out, delighted in his victory. Zoro was horrified.

“I can’t you shitty ass cook! That was the last one!” He looked around the table to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, but every other one was already claimed or empty as well. Furious he turned around to the cook. “Give it back!”

Sanji just licked his lips before saying “No.” He looked like the cat that had gotten the cream. Zoro blamed his next actions completely on the alcohol he had already consumed. And on desperately wanting to have the last word. He grabbed Sanji by the collar and pulled him in. Sanji, in anticipation of a fight, tried to lift his hands to defend himself but only managed to lay them on top of Zoro’s shoulders. His reflexes were already dulling from the amount of alcohol he had consumed in a short time and it showed.

If he had been faster he would have stopped this. He was sure of this. 

Because the next thing he knew was that Zoro was pressing their lips together. In shock, he let out a small gasp. Zoro took advantage of the slightly parted lips and parted them even more with his tongue. The rest of the table had fallen completely silent. No one dared to say anything or even move. Even Luffy seemed surprised by this turn of events.

When the two of them separated, Sanji’s face could rival Luffy’s vest. Zoro licked his lips with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Thanks for the drink. Even though the alcohol does taste shitty here.” That brought Sanji back to himself.

“What the hell mosshead? That was my drink!”

“Really?” Nami asked. “That’s the thing you are mad about? Not the kiss?”

“That wasn’t a kiss!” Both the cook and the swordsman exclaimed at the same time.

“No, it wasn’t,” Usopp agreed. “That was a full-blown out make-out session.”

“Was that their first kiss?” Robin asked, a curious tilt to her head.

“It wasn’t a kiss!” The two men yelled again but went ignored.

“Wasn’t there a kiss last week? In the hallway?” Brook threw in.

“No, the idiot mosshead you ran into me because he has no awareness of his surroundings!” Sanji practically screeched, his face still the color of a tomato.

“And what about that week before that? When you were training outside? Didn’t you kiss then?” Franky wanted to know.

“Hell no!” Zoro yelled, arms crossed in front of his chest. “I pinned that useless cook and won that sparring match though.”

“As if! I pinned you right back, you didn’t win!”

“So it wasn’t a human mating dance? Interesting…” Chopper mused deep in thought. “I need to remedy my notes then.”

“You took notes on us?!”

“I have notes on all of you.”

“Uhhh, can I read the ones about me?” Usopp asked excitedly.

“Hello?” Nami yelled, thumping her fist against the table. “Can we get back to the point here? You two,” and she pointed at Zoro and Sanji. “just totally made out with each other!”

“No, we didn’t,” Zoro said, looking away from her. “It was just me getting my drink back. He was just another container. I wanted my alcohol and I got it, so I won.” Sanji’s alcohol muddled brain had decided to take a short break. He laid his head on the table and just tried to breathe and rationalize what just happened.

It had been a kiss. Fuck. But…

“You know, mosshead,” he said, his head still laying on the table but he glared up at Zoro. “That was one hell of a shitty kiss.” At the look of pure outrage on Zoro’s face, Sanji sat up straight again.

“Like, for real? It was by far the most shitty kiss I ever got. Have you never kissed anyone before?” The table was silent again. Even Luffy didn’t say a word. Maybe the reason for that was the multiple hands that were covering his mouth and holding him down, but neither Zoro nor Sanji seemed to notice this small detail.

Zoro furrowed his brows before looking away. He tried to take a sip from the empty bottle in his hand and grumbled in frustration.

“Like you know how to kiss.” Now it was Sanji’s turn to look outraged.

“Excuse me? I know a lot about this!” Zoro snorted.

“Sure. You can’t even get a date, how do you know more about this than me?”

“Well, for one thing, I am an expert when it comes to romance!”

“Like it’s so hard? What do you need, a rose and poem, is that it? O, curly-brow, your flirting skills can only go below... zero." Sanji looked at Zoro as if he had grown a second head-

"What was that supposed to be?" He let out a hiccup, betraying his still inebriated status. “Poetry? Don’t make me laugh!”

“Guys,” Usopp tried to intervene. “Let’s talk about this, okay? We don’t need to start another fight.”

“Shut up!” Both the cook and swordsman shouted in unison before standing up and facing each other. On the table, Luffy was clapping his hands in excitement for the oncoming fight. Nami just let out a sigh and rubbed a hand over her temple to try and stave off the headache those two always gave her.

“None of you could ever date. You're both terrible at expressing your feelings." That made both men stop in their movement and turn to stare at her. Zoro’s face still showed a look of outrage but Sanji’s had morphed into one of true hurt.

“Nami-san, is that really how you think of me?” he asked in a small sounding voice. 

“Of course you still care about what the witch thinks of you. How pathetic can you be? You’re just proving her point like that!” Zoro may be fast enough to dodge or parry the attacks of all the great swordsmen in the world, but his reflexes would never save him from Nami throwing an empty bottle at his head. In those moments when she was angry, she could even beat Usopp when it came to accuracy. Cursing he rubs at his throbbing head.

“And you’re wrong,” he says, slightly quieter than before as if he isn’t sure if he wants to be heard by the others or not. “I could make anyone happy if I wanted to. I just didn't get the opportunity yet. Or met the right person for that.” Now it was Sanji’s turn to snort.

“You? Make anyone happy? Don’t make me laugh, mosshead.” The smirk he sends Zoro’s way is a mixture of mean and smug. “You couldn’t find someone to like you if you tried. No way that shitty behavior of yours can make anyone happy.”

“And you could?”

With a dramatic gesture, Sanji places a hand against his chest and falls into a perfect half-bow.

“I’m a cook, it is literally my job to make people happy. I have also worked as a host and I have manners. So if anyone can make their partner happy, it would be me.”

“Oh?” Robin, who had been silent for a long while leaned forward in her chair, one hand supporting her chin. Zoro is immediately wary and suspicious of her. Nami was a witch and a devil but Robin was cunning and downright dangerous. 

“So both of you are confident in your ability to make a potential partner happy? Whoever that may be?” 

“Of course, Robin-chan! Whoever it would be, they would be at their happiest with me!” Zoro didn’t want to play into Robin’s hands but he also couldn’t not answer after that kind of declaration Sanji just made. So he straightened his shoulders and simply nodded. He was confident that he could pull this off. In a hypothetical kind of way.

Robin smiled.

“Then how about this? If you can make anyone happy being with you, and since you've both been so into being surprising for the past couple of months... why don't you date each other? After all, both of you are confident in your abilities and there wouldn’t be a better test than this, wouldn’t there?” Sanji choked after hearing this.

“What?!” he yelled scandalized. “Me dating that moron? There’s no way in hell that he could make me even remotely happy, not in a hundred years!” He runs a hand through his hair, obviously frazzled.

“I mean, come on! That’s ridiculous!” He turned and faced Zoro who hadn’t said anything yet. The green-haired swordsman didn’t even look at him.

“So what are the terms?” he asked.

“Whoever can make the other admit they are happy first wins.” Robin’s smile was sweet and innocent, but no one was buying her act.

“And if no one admits to it?”

“Well,” the archaeologist pretends to think for a moment. “I guess whoever forfeits first loses.” Sanji is still flustered and the alcohol still buzzing through his body didn’t help his ability to form words. His eyes were still on Zoro. Their eyes met and Sanji swallowed heavy, his throat suddenly dry. He knew what that look in the other’s eyes met. He knew what would happen next. Zoro only said a single word.

“Okay.” And Sanji knew he was fucked. His face was heating up and his body was itching in an obvious fight or flight instinct. Sanji didn’t know which one would win out in the end. He opened his mouth to deny the challenge - there was simply no way he could date Zoro. But before he could say anything his eye caught on Robin’s small smile and he remembers the second part of the challenge.

Be surprising.

He was pretty sure there was no way he could win that challenge, but the chance that Zoro could was even lesser. So all Sanji had to do was convince Zoro to throw in the towel, right? And this would be a golden opportunity to mess with the other to his heart's content. If he thought about it this way, there was no way that Sanji could lose. 

Except maybe his dignity, but really, when had any Strawhat ever cared about that?

While Sanji was going through his thought process Zoro was panicking internally. Why was he going along with this? There was no way in hell he was going to win this and he didn’t accept a challenge he wasn’t at least somewhat sure he could win. And there was none. His thoughts wandered to his idiot captain for a second and he wondered if stupidity was contagious.

After all, why hadn’t he simply said he wasn’t interested in romance? No, he had to get tilled up by the stupid cook and that witch and started claiming things he had no idea of. Why did he have to say that he could have anyone he wanted? Why did he get manipulated so easily? And even more importantly why did he kiss the stupid cook in the first place? Just to get the last word in? That seemed to have worked out great for him.

“Fine,” Sanji’s cocksure voice broke through his thought process. “You’re on, _Honey_.”

Oh hell no. It was so on. That stupid cook would go down.

“Of course, _Darling_.” Zoro was sure the grin on his face was more a baring of teeth but since Sanji wasn’t looking any different he was sure no one would mind.

“Marvellous,” Robin said, still wearing that mysterious smile of hers. She lifted her bottle. “A toast to the happy couple!”

“A toast!” The rest of their horrible, horrible crewmates chimed in, everyone raising their bottles in excitement.

“Now that that’s cleared up, why don’t you two sit down again?” Nami asked and gestured to the two chairs who were still toppled over on the ground. A bit stilted and awkward the two men picked up their chairs and sat down. The conversation around the table continued but both Zoro and Sanji weren’t sure what to do now.

What did people who were dating do? Kissing was the obvious answer, but that wouldn’t be appropriate right now. And weird. It would be weird as fuck. This was a simple prank, nothing more. Just a way to prove the other wrong and to win. There was no need to go to such lengths just to win.

But on the other hand, they did want to win. And if that involved a bit of kissing so be it.

Zoro looked over to Sanji, determined to do something. His eyes met that of the blond and both men hurriedly looked away again.

This was ridiculous. Why couldn’t he suddenly not hold eye contact with the stupid idiot anymore? Just because they were dating now? At that thought, Zoro felt the heat start to crawl up into his face. He was in a relationship with the cook. Even if it was only for a bet, it was still a fact. What the fuck.

Their crew didn’t linger for a lot longer, having already cleared out any alcohol the bar had to offer. As a group, they made their way back towards the Sunny. Out of habit, Sanji ended up next to Zoro. Most of the time it was his job to keep the swordsman on the right path when it came to directions. But since when? It had never been talked about officially. It had just happened.

He was ripped out of his thoughts by a warm hand that wrapped around his own. Shocked, he looked first down to his hand, which was indeed being held by another and after that looked up towards the owner of said hand.

Zoro’s face was a dark shape of red. He was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but the look on his face dared Sanji to let go. Never one to back down from Zoro’s challenges, Sanji only returned the tight grip. Both were able to keep the eye contact for a few more seconds before looking away at the same time.

Shit.

They were both flustered messes, just from one simple hand-hold. If they wanted to win this bet they needed to seriously up their game.


	2. What's this feeling?

The next morning began like any other.

Brook was standing on the deck, playing soft tunes fitting for the early morning hours. When Sanji got up to prepare breakfast Zoro woke up as well. It was instinct at this point. It had nothing to do with vigilance or not feeling safe. There was no place where he felt safer than on the Thousand Sunny. It was more like he was always hyper-aware of where the cook was at any time, be it on board of the ship or in a fight.

On a normal day, Zoro would wake up, register that Sanji was leaving, and fall back asleep. But today wasn't a normal day. He laid in his bed, eyes closed but every other sense focused on the cook who walked quietly around the room. Every breath, every shift was cataloged and used to create a picture in Zoro's head.

Only when Sanji had left the room did Zoro allow himself a deep sigh. There was no way he was going back to sleep now. Behind his eyes, he could still see the scene from the evening before.

Sanji, face flushed, sitting next to him and waving the empty bottle in Zoro's face. He had been so angry at that moment and his first reaction had been to get him back for it. But why did his brain come up with the idea to kiss him? He rubbed both hands over his face and let out a silent scream as he felt how hot it was.

That hadn't been his first kiss, not with how long he had already been traveling on the ocean. But he wouldn't say he was experienced either.

How was he supposed to get out of this mess? Hoe was he supposed to woo the cook if he was being completely undone by simply holding his hand on the way back to the ship?

But he was also not going to give up. He just needed to fluster the cook even more than he did with Zoro. And with time he would get used to this. Yes, that was a solid plan. Simple, straightforward, exactly as he liked it.

And maybe it would be easier to do these kinds of things when no one else was around to watch. He had always been a more private person when it came to his feelings and he didn't like to broadcast them to a large audience.

With his mind made up, he heaved himself out of his bunk and went through his morning routine. He entered the kitchen to see Sanji already elbows deep in preparation. Still figuring out his plan of attack, he approached slowly.

"Morning," he said in the friendliest tone possible. Sanji's head snapped up and his eyes locked with Zoro's. There was a light blush staining his cheeks and Zoro took a twisted kind of pleasure in the fact that he wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable.

"Morning," Sanji answered, his voice sounding a bit more composed than he looked. "You're up early." Zoro shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep anymore."

"That's unusual for you," A small, almost teasing smile played over Sanji's lips and Zoro was trying hard to reel back his first instinct, which was to snap at Sanji. Instead, he shrugged again.

"Need any help?" he offered and smiled when he noticed how taken aback Sanji looked.

"Uhm, sure." Sanji trailed off, unsure, and looked around the kitchen. "Can you cut those vegetables?" Zoro nodded. I might not have been as precise or as fast as Sanji with a kitchen knife but knife work was still knife work. They stood together, shoulder to shoulder, and worked in silence. Zoro was surprised by how tranquil it felt. When the two of them weren't busy bickering with each other they worked surprisingly well together. They moved around each other in a dance that seemed almost practiced. Zoro could see in Sanji's face that the blond cook was as bewildered by this as Zoro but neither voiced their feelings or complained.

It was surprisingly nice.

Over the next hour, the rest of their crew made their way through the kitchen. Everyone except Robin and Luffy had to do a double-take at seeing the two of them work together, but they wisely chose not to comment.

When there was nothing more to do for Zoro he decided to go out on the deck and get some more training in before breakfast was served. Sanji briefly looked up from the frying pan he was working on and gave him a quick smile before looking down again.

"Thank you for your help, I appreciate it." And that was when Zoro saw an opportunity. He stepped in close and leaned in. In a quick move, he pressed a dry, gentle kiss against Sanji's cheek.

"You're welcome." He turned around and left the kitchen without looking back. As soon as he was outside he had to hunch down and tuck his head between his knees and simply breath.

He could feel the heat radiating off of his face and a sound reminiscent of a whine threatened to make its way out of his throat. How did other people do this so easily?!

"Zoro? Are you okay?" Usopp had stepped up next to him and hovered an unsure hand over his shoulder.

"Fine," he pressed out from between gritted teeth, refusing to look up. "I'm fine."

"Ahhh, young love," Brook sighed from his position on the grass.

"Shut up!"

* * *

Sanji was standing still, frozen to the spot where he had been when Zoro had kissed him. His brain was just repeating what just happened to him in a loop. Only the smell of burning was able to rip him out of his thoughts and with a curse he lifted the frying pan of the stove. The pancake inside was slightly burned. Nothing you couldn't eat, but not something that Sanji in his position as a chef could serve. So this was going to be his own breakfast he supposed.

With a sigh, he placed the signed pancake to the side and moved on to the next one.

That damned mosshead had thrown him completely off of his game. Why was he suddenly so helpful? Did he think that would be enough to woo Sanji?

Hah! As if! He would need to do a lot better than this!

Fueled with self-righteous anger and the need to not be outdone by the swordsman he set to work. He whipped up the rest of the planned breakfast foods. While he was putting on the finishing touches on the last plate the rest of the crew walked in.

"Sanji!" Luffy yelled while jumping onto his seat. "Food!"

"Yeah, yeah, you annoying rubber ball, calm down." Together with Usopp's and surprisingly again Zoro's help they carried the plates to the table. Sanji tried his best to calm down his racing heart. He had a plan and he was going to stick to it.

When everything except the pancakes was on the table Sanji grabbed the two special plates for Nami and Robin and served them first.

"Nami-san, Robin-chan, please enjoy your meal." But he didn't linger around them as he did usually. He went back to the kitchen counter and grabbed the last plate that he had prepared. Something in him recoiled at the thought of giving this kind of special attention to the mosshead but it was all just a means to an end. He would make Zoro eat his words from the evening before and win this bet and prove once and for all what a good catch he truly was.

With a flourish and his most charming smile, he placed the plate in front of Zoro, leaning slightly in his personal space and brushing up against his shoulder as he did so

"And this is for you,  _ Honey _ . Thank you again for your help this morning." He grabbed one of the swordsman's hands off of the table and pressed a kiss against his scarred knuckles. "I made it with love. I hope you enjoy it."

The plate was stunning, as usual. The pancakes were perfect, golden-brown, and fluffy and in the shape of a heart. Out of different kinds of fruits Sanji had carved flowers and other garnishes and the chocolate sauce on top was writing out Zoro's name.

He took his seat next to Zoro and started to eat, ignoring the looks of everyone around him. He could practically feel the heat radiating off of Zoro's face and patted himself on the back for a job well done. He didn't even blush this time! Turns out it was a lot easier to dole out affection than receiving it.

"Unfair!" Luffy let out a yell and pointed accusingly at Zoro. "Zoro's not a woman, why does he get special treatment?! I want special pancakes too!"

"Zoro is an exception to the rule," Sanji replied calmly before putting another bite of food in his mouth. Even though the pancake was a bit charred it was still delicious and he would rather eat it than waste it and throw it away.

"But I'm the captain!" Luffy continued to whine, a big pout on his face.

"Well, but Zoro is my boyfriend." Next to him, Zoro cursed as he almost dropped his glass. Sanji reached over and refilled it without looking away from Luffy. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the matching wide grins on Robin and Nami's faces. Usopp looked torn between amusement and horror and Franky was holding himself back from his usual yell.

For a second Luffy looked at him, brows furrowed in thought.

"So if I was your boyfriend I would get special food too?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Ask your creepy boyfriend to get you food." That seemed to confuse Luffy.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Ohh, don't tell that to Law, he's going to be crushed!" Usopp snickered out.

"Torao's not my boyfriend!" Luffy's chest puffed out in pride and the smile on his face was blinding. "He's my ally!"

"So you let all of your allies kiss you?" Nami asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No!" Luffy protested, arms crossed in front of his chest. "Torao's my first ally! He's special!" The others decided to drop the subject. No one knew what kind of relationship the two captains had with each other, but as long as Luffy was happy and no one tried to kill them in revenge they didn't care.

They finished breakfast in their usual rowdy manner. The only thing missing was the occasional bickering between Zoro and Sanji, one being too embarrassed to say anything the other being too smug. When the time for cleaning up came Sanji started to get up from his chair but was stopped by a hand on his thigh. His eyes immediately snapped towards Zoro who smiled at him. It was a nice smile but something told Sanji this was going to be payback for earlier.

"Don't worry about the cleanup,  _ Darling _ . You already cooked, it's only fair if I do the dishes." And with that, he squeezed Sanji's thigh before getting up and gathering the dishes. Sanji sat frozen on his chair, a delicious shiver running up and down his spine.

What the fuck.

* * *

In the end, he and Sanji shared the task of cleaning up after breakfast. They fell into an easy, silent routine again. Zoro tried to use this time to plan his next attack.

What exactly did couples do? He was sure he would have an easier time with someone that he actually wanted to spend some time with, but with the cook? The only useful or enjoyable thing he could think of would be sparring. But if he suggested that he knew what kind of response that would get him.

His first instinct was trying an activity away from the ship, but for that, they would need to arrive somewhere first. Nami had said at breakfast they wouldn't reach the next island for another day, maybe even a day and a half, depending on the weather.

Now that he thought about it, what did Sanji do the whole day? As far as Zoro knew the other man was always in the kitchen either cooking their next meal or preparing snacks for the other's, most importantly the woman of the crew, to enjoy. Sometimes Zoro had seen him reading a book or doing some kind of stretches but nothing that you could do together.

Being in a relationship was more stressful than he had anticipated.

"What are your plans for the day?" Sanji interrupted his thoughts. Zoro looked over to the blond man who was drying his hands on a dishtowel. Zoro shrugged.

"Haven't decided yet. You?"

"I'm going to force Luffy and Usopp to catch some fish. We have some food left, but I'd rather not stretch it too thin. You never know what might happen considering our luck." Zoro nodded in agreement and understanding. He could swear his life had been fairly normal until he had joined this crew.

"And then I have to start preparations for lunch." Sanji continued while putting away the last plate and closing the cabinet again.

"Ah." Zoro decided at that moment to just go with what he knew and his gut instinct. Up until this point, it had never led him wrong. "I'll help you with that again."

"You don't have to."

"I want to." He shrugged. "It was fun. I wouldn't offer if I didn't want to do it." Sanji's expression morphed into something surprised, a softer edge to his face.

"Oh," he said softly. "In that case, sure. I'll see you then." Zoro nodded and turned to leave, but thought better of it. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Sanji's cheek, this one lingering for a few seconds longer than the last.

"See you later," he said before leaving the kitchen and taking up his post in the Crowsnest. The blush on his face was lesser this time. Instead of that, there was a strange feeling in his stomach.

He ignored it and started thinking of some more romantic activities that he could try out with the cook.

* * *

Sanji felt as if he was living in a parallel universe. His head was spinning because of how nice it had been to spend time with Zoro today. Don't get him wrong, there were still loads of other people Sanji would rather use his time on, but the time they spent in the kitchen had been downright pleasant.

If he didn't know this was a competition between him and the mosshead he would've been even more confused. But as it stood both were trying their best to woo the other. And Sanji had an idea that would be romantic and would benefit himself.

He finished his preparations and was on his way to search for the swordsman when the man in question walked into the kitchen.

"Ah, perfect. I was just about to search for you." Zoro nodded as if they had an appointment and he had been expected here. He rolled up his sleeves and looked at Sanji expectantly.

"What do you need me to do?" He gestured to the produce Sanji had already laid out in preparation for dinner. He was confused for a moment before he realized that Zoro thought he wanted him to help in the kitchen again. He lifted his hands and shook his head.

"Oh no, I didn't mean for you to help, don't worry." Zoro frowned.

"I told you, I'm doing this because I want to, not because I think I have to." As always Zoro's earnest answer threw Sanji for a loop. How was this the same man that he had butted heads with for years?

"That's very sweet of you, but I have a surprise for you this time." Instantly Zoro's body language switched from relaxed to tense and he gave Sanji a suspicious look.

"I don't like surprises."

"I figured," Sanji answered with a smile. "But you'll like this one, I promise. Come on." He reached out and boldly took one of Zoro's hands in his. In his head, he reminded himself that he needed to do this to be convincing and there was absolutely no reason to be this nervous. It was just Zoro.

He led him up the stairs into Sunny's bathroom. He had spoken with the rest of the crew and made sure that no one would be using the bath before dinner. Nami and Robin had agreed they would wait with their bath for the day till after. Sanji had promised to make it up to them. Surprisingly enough they had supplied him with a few things to 'ensure his success'.

Their words, not his.

The bathroom was dimly lit by a few scented candles given to him by Nami. The water had been enriched with a variety of bathing salts, courtesy of Chopper. Robin had gifted him a few roses whose petals were now scattered around the bathtub and the water.

"What's this?" The look Zoro cast around the room could only be described as horrified. In his head, Sanji was cackling gleefully. Even if this didn't further his goal, it had been worth it just to see that kind of face Zoro was making right now.

"This is for you to help you relax." Zoro opened his mouth, no doubt to throw some insult his way, but Sanji was faster. "I noticed how you favored your right arm this morning, I bet it's still a bit sore from our last fight with the marines. You turned it strangely and sprained it." The swordsman shut his mouth with an audible 'click' and turned away from Sanji with a grumble.

"I checked with Chopper," Sanji continued. "The salts in the water should help your muscle tissue regain its strength faster." Against the recommendations of their doctor could even Zoro not say anything. With a defeated sigh the other man threw his head back.

"Fine, I'll take the stupid bath."

"Wonderful," Sanji smiled at him. "Wash yourself and then go soak. I'll be back in a little bit."

"I know how to bath."

"Then you should do it more often than once a week," Sanji countered with a mean smile.

"I have to jump into the ocean practically every day to fetch our idiot captain."

"They are not the same thing and you know it. Now, wash, then soak." With one last glare in Sanji's direction, the green-haired man followed his instructions with only minimal complaining. Satisfied with his work Sanji turned around and headed back towards the kitchen.

"Oi," Zoro called out after him. "I'll help with the dishes later." And then he closed the door into Sanji's face. Sanji blamed the strange feeling in his stomach to a particular rough wave the Sunny had to weather.

* * *

As much as Zoro didn't want to enjoy the bath he was forced into he had to admit that it was kind of nice. The candles had a pleasant smell that mixed well with the smell of the ocean drifting in through the window. The bathing salts were soothing to his aching muscles and bones and he felt himself melt even further into the warm water. The only unnecessary part was the flowers. Sure, they looked and smelled kinda nice, but he kind of thought it to be a waste. But giving each other dead plants seemed to be a big part of any romantic relationship.

The only thing that would have made this better would've been if there had been some booze, but since they were out there was probably no way that he was getting any until the next island.

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened and Sanji stepped in, a covered tray in his hands. Blinking lazily up at him Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"What's this?" he asked.

"The last part of your surprise," Sanji announced before sitting down beside the bathtub. He reached out his hand. “Gimme your hand. I’m going to trim your nails.”

“I can do that myself.” Sanji rolled his eyes and grabbed the towel from the tray. Under it, there was a small bottle of sake. “You’ll need your other hand to hold this.”

“You son of a bitch,” Zoro breathed out while making grabby hands in the direction of the bottle. “You said we didn’t have any more!”

“We don’t,” Sanji said in a tone of clipped voice. “This is not sake for drinking, but cooking. But I know your unrefined palette won’t find a difference and so I decided I could let you have some of it.”

“You’re giving me something of your personal stash?” he asked with wide eyes.

“Yes. Now give me your hand.” Deciding that complaining about this would only hurt himself he complied and surrendered his hand to Sanji’s ministrations. It was rather soothing if he was honest. The sake burned in his throat, his body was warm and relaxed and the feeling of being pampered was nice. Not that he would ever admit to that. Not even under threat of torture or death.

After Sanji was done with his nails he stood up and gathered his supplies and the now-empty sake bottle.

“Dinner is done in 15 minutes. Don’t be late please.” Before he left he leaned down and pressed a kiss against Zoro’s forehead. He hoped his face was still flushed enough from the warm water that the cook couldn’t see just how much that small gesture got to him.

He just couldn’t get over the fact that Sanji, the man he had found annoying at best a few days ago had become that close to him and that his body reacted positively to his ministrations.

‘ _ It has to be a purely physical reaction _ ,’ Zoro thought to himself while he toweled himself dry. ‘ _ There’s just no way that it’s because of the idiot cook _ .’

He dressed in the most comfortable clothing that had mysteriously been laid out for him ( _ and seriously, did the cook go through his stuff? Talk about invasion of privacy _ ) and made his way down into the kitchen. He caught the tail end of Sanji bringing the dishes to the table and grabbed the last two plates.

“I told you, you don’t need to do that!” Sanji exclaimed when he saw them.

“And I told you, I do what I want!” For a moment it looked like Sanji wanted to keep arguing but he seemed to decide against it. Zoro shot a satisfied smirk his way and the cook flipped him off. With a chuckle, Zoro placed the last two plates down and took his seat. Not a second later the door banged open and the rest of their crew entered the kitchen.

The whole time that he had spent soaking in the bath Zoro had thought about how he could upstage Sanji’s gesture. The fact that he felt so refreshed right now just made that desire stronger. He wanted to make the cook feel as good as he did right now.

For the sake of the bet of course! Nothing else.

He kept an eye on him throughout the whole evening, trying to find something that Sanji might need after all of this. And even though the idea wasn’t entirely new he did have one.

When it was time to clean up Zoro grabbed Sanji’s hands before he could lift a plate.

“Let me do it,” he said in the most serious voice he could offer. “Go outside, take your smoke break a bit earlier. You’ve been working yourself to the bone lately. Let me do this for you.” He could see that the straightforward approach had been the best one. Sanji still wasn’t used to the honest compliments and they always left him flustered.

“Shitty mosshead, this is my job.” His voice lacked the heat it normally would have and the flush on his cheeks betrayed his quiet pleasure.

“I know,” Zoro said. “You’re doing a good job. But everybody needs a break. I got one earlier today, it’s only fair if you get one now too.” The two stared into each other's eyes for a while longer before Sanji was the first to break it.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go. But if you break something in my kitchen I will throw you overboard, you hear me? Not a single thing better be misplaced!”

“Aye, aye!” Zoro gave him a lazy two-finger salute before he started gathering the dishes. He could still feel Sanji’s stare on his back but he decided to ignore it, instead choosing to focus on his task. When he was sure the other one had left the kitchen he let out a sigh. Time to put his plan into motion. 

After he put the dishes away of course.

* * *

Sanji was leaning against the railing and watching the smoke drift away lazily in the breeze. The sky and the sea were pitch black, only discernible from each other by a very thin line where the horizon was. But Sani knew it was only a matter of minutes until that disappeared too and the only light would be the Sunny on the ocean and the stars in the sky.

His mind drifted just like his smoke did and he thought back over the day. It had been a bit over a day but so much had changed. He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with everything. It was one thing to try and beat Zoro at this stupid game they decided to play, but a whole other situation when he liked the attention.

For the whole day, Zoro had been attentive. He had tried to lighten Sanji’s workload and be as helpful as he could be. Their bickering had been playful without the hurtful insults peppered in and the time they spent together could almost be called fun, at the very least it had been highly enjoyable.

He had always liked to share the kitchen with others. That was one of the main things he missed about his time in the east blue. Even when he had been challenged by those meatheads in the kitchen it had always been fun and lively. Now Sanji was on his own in the kitchen. He enjoyed the freedom it gave him and the space he had to work with. But sometimes those manual tasks one had to do to cook went by much faster if there was more than just one person. 

A cold gust of wind breezed over the deck of the Sunny and made Sanji shiver. Nami had mentioned that the next island they would visit would most likely be a winter island. The sensible thing to do would be going indoors, but right now Sanji enjoyed the dak and the quiet. He wasn’t plagued by any melancholic thoughts, but sometimes just looking out into nothing soothed something within him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a blanket being thrown over his shoulders. Confused, he looked up into the eyes of Zoro who had joined him at the railing.

“Kitchen is clean again. It’s cold out here, you should wear some more layers.”

“And what about you? Half your tits are out. If anyone should layer up some more it’s you.” Zoro shot him a quick look and something in Sanji regretted saying those words. He genuinely didn’t mind Zoro’s company today and he didn’t want to cut it short by a snappy remark.

And of course, that way he wouldn’t win their bet. That was the main point of this after all.

After a short moment, Zoro grabbed the edge of the blanket and lifted it. With a sidestep, he took the position behind Sanji’s back and wrapped the blanket around them both. His hands were placed on Sanji’s left and right on the railing, not quite hugging him, but also not keeping his distance at all.

Neither man said anything, just staring out ahead quietly. Sanji could smell the bath salts from earlier on Zoro’s skin and his skin was practically radiating warmth. But under the fresh smell, there was something distinctly Zoro, that Sanji couldn’t place. It wasn’t a good or a bad smell, not particularly strong. Just something that Sanji’s mind could immediately recognize and put his body at ease.

Without a conscious thought from him, his body started to relax and lean more heavily against the railing, his cigarette still held loosely between his lips, the smoke lazily curling up into the sky.

The two men kept standing there for quite some time, saying nothing to each other, just watching the stars and enjoying the company.

Even though both would deny that last part with their dying breath if asked.


	3. Getting Closer

As Nami had correctly predicted they arrived at the winter island around midday the next day.

It was a fairly big island that was focused mainly on the visitors that came by. To maximize their income the marine presence was minimal, making it the perfect place for pirates to stop by.

It was exactly what they needed to lay low and have fun for a few days and Luffy was bouncing off of the walls in his excitement.

"We can build Snowmen! And Igloos! And make snow angels! And have snowball fights!" His excitement knew no bounds and Usopp and Chopper were just too happy to join in.

Sanji was trying to ignore them while he compiled his grocery list, but when they were getting too loud he threw them out of his kitchen.

He went back to his list, finally alone. For a short second, he wondered where Zoro had gone off to, but after that, he scolded himself. He didn't care what the mosshead did with his time. Sanji only needed to be charming to him when he was around, there was no reason to think about him when he wasn't there.

But still, he did.

He had last seen him after breakfast where he had helped him with the dishes again. It seemed to be something that Zoro was determined to make part of his routine now. Sanji certainly wouldn't complain too much about it. On the one hand, he didn't need help, especially not from Zoro. On the other hand, it was nice not to do it alone.

Brook volunteered to take the first watch at the Sunny while the rest of them made their way into the town. As soon as they docked their ship in the harbor they spotted another reason for Luffy's good mood to skyrocket.

"Toraoooooo!" he yelled, jumping up and down excitedly before shooting his arms out and catapulting himself from the ship. The man in question had just emerged from his ship and Sanji could see how he froze to the spot at the yell of his butchered name. The look on his face was a weird mix of excitement, dread, and resignation. An apt description of all their feelings when their captain got into one of his moods.

Sanji would feel sorry for him but if Law was here that meant none of them had to babysit Luffy. Collectively as one, the Strawhats turned their heads away from the scene unfolding on the docks. Maybe if they just pretended not to know the human pretzel that Law and Luffy had turned into they could slip into town unnoticed.

The Heart Pirates didn't seem to have that problem as they stood on the deck of their ship and laughed and hollered down to the captains.

Sanji pulled out his list one last time to take a look at it when he felt someone step up next to him. Even Zoro had yielded to the cold and switched back to one of his outfits with a closed shirt, a thick coat thrown haphazardly over his shoulders.

"I'm coming with you," he said while gesturing to Sanji's list.

"Oh?" Sanji asked, his eyebrow raised and a teasing smile on his face. "Can't get enough of me already? Or are you afraid you'll get lost if you don't hold my hand?" The smile on Zoro's face turned strained for a short second and Sanji snickered.

"The first one of course." The green-haired man reached out and took Sanji's hand in his. "And I'll take any chance where I can hold your hand,  _ Darling _ ." That smooth motherfucker. Sanji was going to kill him.

He cleared his throat and looked away before answering.

"Well, if you insist I guess you can help me." Together they left the ship, their hands still clasped tightly between them. It was a lot less awkward then their last time holding hands had been. It was also a lot more comfortable because of the freezing temperatures.

Their crew stopped shortly next to the Polar Tang to greet their allies. Law was still trying to shove Luffy off of him, but the younger captain ignored all of his tries and only wound his arms even tighter around him.

"Thank you for taking care of our captain for us, Law. We appreciate it," Nami said with a sly smile and a wink in his direction. Law was about to spit some choice words back to her, Sanji was sure of it, but suddenly his gaze seemed to catch on something and he stopped moving.

"What is that?" he asked instead, pointing at Zoro and Sanji. Confused, the two looked around, unsure what he meant.

"Huh?" Luffy said, as confused as they were. "Did you hit your head Torao? That's Zoro and Sanji!"

"I know that!" the older man exclaimed. "But what are they doing?"

"Holding hands."

"But why?"

"Because they're dating."

"They're what?!"

"It's a long story," Usopp interrupted before someone could do something they would regret. Sanji was already thinking of jumping into the ocean and ending it all. Zoro looked more like he was contemplating pushing Law into the ocean. "We'll tell you about it later. We have to go now though. See you later, try to keep Luffy out of trouble!" And with that Usopp pushed Sanji and Zoro away from the docks, the rest of the Strawhats hot on their heels. Luffy's happy yell of "See you later guys!" followed them up into the streets of the city.

* * *

Zoro had to admit walking around town with Sanji's hand in his hand wasn't so bad. If the other could just stop bitching that was.

"We're lost!"

"We're not lost. And even if we were, you are the one who was leading."

"I know!" Sanji let out a wail and put his free hand up over his eyes. "I can't believe your terrible sense of direction is contagious!" He shook their combined hands for emphasis.

"If you think that you can simply let go of my hand." The smile Sanji gave him bordered on mean and the grip he had on Zoro's hand turned painful for a second.

"Not a chance,  _ Honey _ ." Zoro shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Let's go that way next."

"No!" Sanji screamed, digging his heels into the ground. "We're going back to civilization. I need to finish buying everything on that list and when the Heart Pirates are here that just means Luffy will demand a feast tonight. I don't have time to dick around in the forest."

"Way to ruin the romantic atmosphere," Zoro said in a fake put-out voice. Sanji glared at him before giving him a slightly forced smile.

"I promise if we finish everything in time I'll take you on a date tomorrow that'll knock your socks off." Zoro snorted.

"Sure. Let's go."

"Finally. But I'm leading."

They did make it back to town in a relatively short time. Zoro wasn't surprised. He had known exactly where they had been the entire time, it was Sanji's fault for not trusting him.

They managed to get everything on Sanji's list and then some. Sanji looked at the mountain of food that they were carrying back to the ship and sighed.

"I just know I'll have to make the same trip at least three more times while we're here, especially with the extra mouths now."

"Can't the Heart Pirates eat at their ship?" Sanji looked almost offended.

"Are you saying their food is better than mine?"

"What? No!" Zoro said, confused. "I just meant they have to have their own food. They should eat that instead."

"Have you ever eaten Penguins food?"

"Yeah," Zoro said. "It wasn't half bad." Sanji nodded in agreement.

"It's good food. But not to be arrogant or anything, but if you had the choice between eating my food and his, who would you choose?"

"... yeah okay," Zoro was forced to agree. Sanji seemed pleased with his answer and they dropped the topic.

When they finally arrived at the ship they saw that it had already been invaded by a large part of Law's crew. Penguin and Shachi were talking with Usopp and Franky about something, while Bepo was standing with Nami and Chopper. A few other members of Law's crew were talking to Brook and Robin, but they were too far away to make out who they were. Law and Luffy were nowhere to be seen and Zoro was kind of glad. It was hard enough to deal with Sanji and his new relationship as it was, he didn't need any more comments from the creepy Surgeon of Death.

"I'm gonna go find the idiot captains and ask them what their plans for the evening are," Sanji announced after they had placed all of the groceries in the kitchen. "Would you mind starting to put these away?" Without thinking, Zoro nodded but froze after a second. Sanji didn't notice as he had already left the kitchen. 

That had been the first time that Sanji had asked Zoro outright for something. A warm, pleased feeling spread throughout his chest. That kind of terrified him. He was supposed to woo the cook, to get affected himself. Throwing a look towards the groceries he had an idea.

It was time to mess with the other man, at least a little bit. It had been way too long after all.

* * *

After confirming with his captain and his captain's ally that they would indeed have a feast tonight Sanji made his way back into the kitchen. It seemed Zoro had already stowed away all of the groceries and was taking out bowls for the preparations. Seeing him move like that through Sanji's kitchen filled him with a certain warmth that he crushed rigorously under his metaphorical heel.

There was no time for that now.

Zoro looked up as soon as he entered the room and gestured to the pantry.

"I put everything away. I hope you're happy with it." There was a glint in his eyes that Sanji couldn't quite place. That together with the strange wording let him feel automatically wary.

"What did you do?" he demanded to know. The look Zoro threw him was a bit too innocent for Sanji to believe him.

"I put the produce away? Like you told me to?" Suspicious Sanji squinted his eyes at the other man but let it go. There was too much to do to engage in petty squabbles right now. He walked over to the pantry door and opened it.

And promptly stopped in his steps.

Everything had been put into the pantry, that much was most definitely true. But nothing was where it should be. Sanji had a very precise system for all the things they stored in here and he was pretty sure most of the crew members knew about it. And if maybe only one or two things hadn't been at the right place Sanji would've put this under a mistake or a misunderstanding. But for every single item to be at the wrong place, there had to be intent here.

He gritted his teeth while turning around. He gave Zoro a clearly forced smile that the other seemed to delight in.

"Thank you so much for helping me, Honey." His jaw was starting to hurt from the pressure he was putting on it. "You deserve a break. How about you go out and help the others?"

"No, I think I'm exactly where I want to be. But thank you,  _ Darling _ ." That son of a bitch. Slowly Sanji let out the air in his lungs and counted backward from ten. He could do this. He was a master chef, he could get this dinner done even with added sabotage from his  _ boyfriend _ . So Sanji turned back around and started gathering the things he needed. It took him almost twice as long as usual because of the new placement of the food. He vowed to take a late-night today and put everything back into order but now was not the time. He had dinner to finish.

He dumped the vegetables on the counter and put Zoro to work.

Even with the added tension between them they still managed to work seamlessly. He even managed to hold back his sharp remarks when Zoro innocently asked him where something was, because he "just couldn't find it in the pantry.".

Smartass bitch.

The last straw was when Sanji started to prepare the dessert and asked Zoro to get him a bag of flour from the pantry. After a clearly exaggerated stumble from the normally so graceful swordsman, Sanji had gotten his bag of flour.

All over his clothes, hair, and face.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Sanji asked.

"Upps," Zoro said, absolutely unconvincing. "I'm sorry."

"No, not yet you are," Sanji growled out before he launched himself at the swordsman. He wrapped both his arms and legs around him in a vice-like hug. "Thank you so much for your help today,  _ Honey _ !" And with that, he dumped the handful of flour he had into Zoro's hair and down the back of his shirt.

The other man let out a loud yell and tried to pry Sanji off, but the cook was persistent. They ended up wrestling on the ground, rolling around, and throwing hands of flour at each other. Sanji didn't know when he had started laughing, but he didn't care. He was too busy enjoying the dumb look on Zoro's face when Sanji managed to hit him with another bit of flour.

"Hey!" a high-pitched yelling interrupted them. "What are you two doing?" Above them stood Nami, hands pushed into her hips and looking at them like they were crazy. Which in all fairness was probably a good assumption on her part.

Quickly the two of them stood up and tried dusting themselves off, but just ended up making all three of them cough.

"We got a bit caught up," Sanji admitted sheepishly. "Sorry, Nami-san. The food will be ready soon." She just raised her brow at them both before shaking her head and leaving the kitchen again. Zoro and Sanji hurried to get everything done and in the oven before turning to each other again.

"We should probably change," Sanji said with a look at their ruined clothing.

"You think so?" Zoro lifted an eyebrow and clapped himself against his chest. A puff of flour flew through the air.

Together they made their way back towards their bunks and changed into a new set of clothing. Sanji reached out a hand towards Zoro.

"Give me your clothes, I'm gonna wash them later." The look Zoro gave him was wary but in the end, he relented and handed over his shirt and pants. Sanji put them on his own and they went back into the kitchen. With the help of the others, it had been easy enough to build a table big enough to hold all of them and put out the dishes. Everyone was having a good time, even though Law seemed to give him and Zoro a few confused looks.

Sanji couldn't blame them, he didn't understand the situation either.

The party stretched long into the night and it could almost be considered early again when Sanji finally finished organizing his pantry again. Grumbling under his breath he made his way back towards the bunk room when he remembered the dirty clothes. While looking at the pile next to his bunk he had a sudden and brilliant idea of how he could get revenge on the mosshead.

Giggling to himself he set to work.

* * *

Zoro had woken up multiple times that night. First when Sanji had finally come to bed after rearranging the pantry again. He had felt a little bit bad about that after all. But on the other hand, why couldn't Sanji just leave it for the next day? There was no reason to do it in the middle of the night.

Instead of going to bed though the other had left again. Zoro had been confused when the cook had left the room again immediately after. Where was he going?

He hadn't been able to hold the thought in his head and he had fallen asleep again. He woke up one more time when Sanji finally came to bed but the answer to the second disappearance didn't present itself until the morning.

As usual, he woke up when Sanji got up to make breakfast. It was later than normal, but the rest of the crew was still sleeping after a night of partying. Zoro opened his eyes and just caught Sanji's back disappearing through the door. He gave a lazy stretch and prepared to get up as well. 

He had made it his mission to help with the meal prep and he would do it, no matter how bad of a hangover he had. That's when he noticed the bundle of clothing at the foot of his bed. Sanji must've washed them that night. A burst of warmth spread through his chest and he couldn't help but smile.

If he wanted to be, the cook was able to be pretty nice and considerate.

A few minutes later he was ready to take back his earlier thought. The cook was the worst. He deserved no mercy.

Dressed in just his pants from the day before he stomped into the kitchen the freshly washed clothes in his arms. He was greeted by a sunny grin.

"Morning,  _ Honey _ ."

"Good morning,  _ Darling _ ," Zoro pressed out between gritted teeth, barely holding on to his temper. "Did you wash our clothes tonight?"

"Why yes, I did!" Sanji's grin was so smug, Zoro could almost taste it. "You're welcome by the way."

"Thank you so much. There is only one problem." He unfurled the pants and the shirt and held them up to his body. Both seemed a little bit too small for his body. "I don't think they're going to fit anymore."

"Oh no!" He put a hand up in front of his mouth in a gesture of over the top shock. Sanji's wide eyes were almost comical. "I'm so sorry! But I mean, they're not that small. Surely you can still wear them."

"They're so small, they would fit you better than me." His eyes widened at an idea. "In fact, I think I'll give them to you. I'll just have to buy new clothes today."

"And what are you going to wear until then? Your birthday suit?"

"Oh, I'm going to wear a suit alright, don't you worry. I'm leaving this in your bunk for later,  _ Darling _ ." And with that Zoro turned around to put his plan into motion.

He waited until everyone had already arrived in the kitchen for maximum effect. He walked in and went straight to his seat. He ignored the silence and the stares of his crew and looked at Sanji whose face was very red and his eyes were very wide.

Perfect.

He leaned in close and pressed a kiss against his cheek. The suit jacket strained a bit at his movement but nothing ripped open, so he counted that as a win. Sanji’s clothing was a bit too tight for his liking but they were doing the job he wanted them to do.

“Thanks for lending me your clothes. They’re a bit tight but they’ll do till I can replace the others.” From the other end of the table, he could hear Law’s quietly muttered ‘ _ what the fuck _ ’ but he ignored him. If he acknowledged any of the others his act would be over and he would die out of embarrassment. 

He calmly started eating and mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done by the look on Sanji’s face.

Hah, take that shitty cook.

* * *

Sanji was most definitely not okay. How could he have predicted his prank would backfire this heavily? He was sitting at the breakfast table and trying to eat but he wasn’t able to concentrate with Zoro sitting right next to him.

Wearing Sanji’s clothing. How dare he. That asshole.

And even more important: Why did he look so good? Sanji knew logically that Zoro had worn suits before and Sanji had even seen him wearing said suits, but he couldn’t remember ever feeling like this before.

Maybe it was the fact that Zoro was wearing Sanji’s suit? And that it wasn’t as loose as most of the clothing Zoro preferred. It was tight and hugged every part of Zoro’s body and made him look almost obscene. Which made no sense, because Sanji had seen Zoro half-naked and naked more times then he could count. What was it about this Zoro that made Sanji’s higher brain functions say their goodbyes?

The others seemed to have accepted this new reality they were forced to live in relatively quickly, except for Law who was still switching between staring in bewilderment down at his plate or over the table at Zoro and Sanji. Sanji still couldn’t blame him. It was a lot to take in.

After they finished with breakfast Zoro insisted upon helping him with the dishes again, claiming he hadn’t been able to help with the preparations beforehand. He shrugged off the suit jacket and then he had the audacity to roll up the sleeves of the shirt, which was just plain rude. How was Sanji supposed to do the dishes when Zoro’s arms looked like that?

Just before they finished with the last dish Luffy ran into the room, wearing one of Nami’s favorite outfits. Both Zoro and Sanji just stared at him for a few seconds.

“Uhm, Luffy?” Sanji asked carefully. “Why are you wearing Nami-san’s clothes?”

“Huh? Isn’t today a ‘We wear whatever we want’ day? Why aren’t you wearing Zoro’s clothes?” That made Zoro smirk and chuckle. 

“Yeah,  _ Darling _ , why aren’t you wearing my clothes? I gave you some this morning. Are you ashamed of me?” The smile Sanji gave him in return was as sweet as sugar and as sharp as the knife he was holding.

“I could never be ashamed of you,  _ Honey _ . I simply would like to wear your shirt tonight when I’m sleeping. It looks very comfortable and it makes me feel closer to you.” The look on Zoro’s face told Sanji everything he needed to know. One point for the cook.

“Well, whatever. I’m gonna go show the others!” And with that Luffy disappeared out the door again. Just a few seconds later they could hear Nami’s enraged scream and something that sounded suspiciously like Luffy screaming.

After making sure that their captain hasn’t been brutally murdered ( _ he was able to escape Nami but they saw him run around in Law’s signature coat and hat, while his own Strawhat had been shoved onto the other captains head _ ) they decided to head out too, to replace some of Zoro’s clothing. Sanji insisted on coming with him since he couldn’t trust Zoro to not buy horrible plain or clashing clothing.

“Like right now,” Sanji said, gesturing to Zoro’s shoes. “It’s a crime that you want to pair that kind of suit with those shoes.” In place of an answer, Zoro just rolled his eyes and mockingly tried to squeeze his foot into Sanji’s shoe instead, which didn’t work out very well.

“It’s not as if I can fit into yours. And while we’re talking about shoes, how do you fight with these?” He lifted his leg, one of Sanji’S black dress shoes still hanging from his toes. “Aren’t you supposed to fight using your legs? How do you not have to replace them after every fight? And wouldn’t your kicks pack even more of a punch if you wore boots like mine?”

Now it was Sanji’s turn to mockingly try on the other’s shoes. He frowned as he stretched his toes.

“How do you walk in these? It feels like I’m walking with cement around my feet.”

“Shoes are supposed to protect your feet, you know.”

“I can protect my own feet, thank you.” That made Zoro snort.

“That didn’t even make sense, idiot cook.” The insult sounded a lot fonder then usual and when Sanji looked up into Zoro’S face the other was smiling at him. Sanji couldn’t help but smile back.

“We both look ridiculous. Can I have my shoes back please?”

“Sure.” They exchanged their shoes and finished getting dressed in their winter gear for outside. They made their way into town towards one of the many clothing stores they had seen the day before. Sanji’s eyes couldn’t help themselves and sometimes linger on the beautiful women who called this town their home or were simply here to shop. A sharp tug on his hand made his gaze snap back towards Zoro who was walking next to him.

“You wouldn't cheat on your date, would you now?” The smirk on Zoro’s face was smug as he raised an eyebrow. “Where's the romance in that?” Sanji grinned back and tightened the grip on Zoro’s hand until the other was scrunching up his face in pain.

“Don’t worry,  _ Honey _ ,” Sanji reassured him. “I have only eyes for you.” Zoro rolled his eyes and looked forward again, but Sanji’s gaze lingered. Zoro did look good in Sanji’s clothing. But even more than that he simply looked good. His face had sharp, attractive angles, his skin was unblemished and had an attractive tone to it. He was built and in the suit, he almost looked sophisticated if you ignored the horrible boots on his feet.

And he noticed another thing: He wasn’t the only one looking at the green-haired swordsman. He saw a few women and men give Zoro approving looks. Sanji frowned. Sure, those people were looking now, but as soon as they talked with Zoro they would back off. After all the other was rude, had no manners, loyal, dedicated, honest to a fault… no wait, that wasn’t where Sanji had wanted to go with this. 

Was there something to Zoro after all? Was Sanji actually in danger of losing this bet? 

No, that couldn’t be it. There was no way that Sanji would fall for Zoro. But as he looked around he understood that someone else very easily could. And wouldn’t that mean Sanji had lost as well?

He would lose the bet, of course. He was talking about the bet.

Nothing else.


	4. Can't Get Close Enough

Shopping for clothing with the cook hadn't been as bad as he had anticipated. It would never be one of his favorite pastimes though. He much preferred walking around and trying different foods and warm alcoholic drinks, Sanji's hand clasped firmly into his own.

He had always thought the cook to be annoying at best but now listening to him talk so excitedly about the different techniques the locals used to prepare some of their signature foods he couldn't help but smile. It was kinda cute.

Not that he would ever tell him that.

When he agreed to this bet a few days ago ( _ and had it really only been less than a week since then? it already felt like ages _ ) he was confident that he could at the very least force Sanji into giving up, because there was no way that he would ever fall for the cook. Now he wasn't so sure anymore.

Seeing Sanji like this was feeling different. He knew most of their behavior was for show but it still felt nice. And Zoro had only done what he thought would be appropriate and felt right. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if this turned out to be real. Maybe he wanted to win this bet as it was intended and make Sanji fall for him.

So he grabbed Sanji's hand tighter and asked a question about the different spices they used on this island and watched the cook light up with excitement before falling into another rant.

Of course, nothing in Zoro's life ever went the way he wanted it to. They had already realized that even though there were no marines on the island, there were plenty of other pirate groups. And so, when he and Sanji were cornered by one of these groups, overconfident and a little tipsy, he shouldn't have been surprised.

"Well, look what we have here boys," the obvious leader of the group exclaimed, his arms outstretched. "Seems like we stumbled onto some real celebrities today! If it isn't Pirate Hunter Zoro and Blackleg! What are you doing here?" His eyes fell to their still intertwined hands and the grin on his face turned downright mean.

"Enjoying a romantic stroll I see? How endearing. Wouldn't it be a shame if your day was ruined?"

"It sure would," Sanji agreed with a clearly fake smile, his hand tightening in warning when Zoro's other hand wandered to his swords. "So why don't we just all go our separate ways and never see each other again? I'm sure that would be the best decision you lot made all day." The other pirate nodded, seemingly in agreement. As if.

"Of course, of course. I only have one question for you before we go." His friendly grin turned cruel. "Which one of you is taking it up the ass?"

Sanji let out a tired sigh before moving. For untrained eyes, it may have been almost too fast to catch, but Zoro was used to watching Sanji fight. The cook used the leverage he had on Zoro's hand to help him jump into the air and delivered a heavy kick directly to the face of the man standing in front of you. The pirate fell over like a tree before the other pirates had even comprehended what had happened.

Zoro pulled his sword and smirked. This was going to be fun. Of course, they couldn't make this easy on themselves and their competitive nature. Since Sanji had attacked without letting go of Zoro's hand Zoro felt the need to do the same. It didn't matter that Sanji didn't need his hands to fight and Zoro did. If he let go of the cook's hand it felt as if he would lose. Sanji seemed to be of the same wavelength since he used Zoro like a springboard.

It was an inconvenience fighting with this handicap but it was smaller than Zoro had thought it would be. He and Sanji were so in tune with each other's fighting style that it was easy to combine their attacks. He even found that it was a bit fun to fight like that and to see the absolute fear and panic on their opponent’s faces.

When the last man had hit the ground there wasn't a single scratch on either of them. At least none that had been caused by their enemies.

"Ouch," Zoro said and pointedly raised their clasped hands. He could see five angry red welts where Sanji's nails had dug into his hand. Sanji just shrugged and leaned closer to their hands.

"It just shows how worried I was for you,  _ Honey _ ." And then he kissed Zoro's knuckles. Zoro thought he was done with all that blushing but obviously, he had been wrong.

Motherfucker.

* * *

Sanji wasn't quite sure when hand-holding had turned into a competition between Zoro and him but that didn't matter right now. The only thing that mattered was that Sanji was not going to be the one who would let go first, even if it killed him. There was just no way he was losing.

When they arrived back on the ship the first challenge was to get out of their coats. They performed a complicated move were the hands that they were holding changed until they were finally able to get free.

The Assholes they called crewmates had seemingly caught onto what was going on and had started to watch. With a huff, Sanji tugged at Zoro's hand and led him into the kitchen.

"You don't mind helping me prepare dinner again, right,  _ Honey _ ?"

"Of course not,  _ Darling _ ."

"And you're sure the two are feeling alright? There was no strange devil fruit involved? Or maybe a hard hit to the head?" Law asked Chopper with a very disturbed and worried look on his face.

"Yup," he could hear Chopper answering cheerfully as he followed the rest of his crew into the kitchen where all of them and a few of the Heart Pirates took a seat around the table to gawk at Sanji and Zoro like the vultures they were. Except for Nami and Robin of course.

Well, if they wanted a show Sanji was going to give them one. He gave Zoro a look, hoping to convey his intentions, and surprisingly enough Zoro smirked and nodded.

In tandem, they started cleaning and cutting all the necessary ingredients for dinner in record time. After that came the cooking, frying, and baking. When they started to set the table Sanji decided to be extra cheeky and put out some candles and flowers to make the whole thing that much more cheesy. His only concern was that maybe Luffy would try to eat the flowers, but that was a risk he was prepared to take.

When the last plate was placed on the table the whole room erupted into applause. Dramatically, Sanji pulled Zoro into a bow. The swordsman rolled his eyes but followed suit. He stepped a bit closer and murmured a quiet question into Sanji’s ear.

"Are you happy?" Confused Sanji looked at him, trying to see if Zoro was serious or not. The look in those dark eyes was of honest curiosity and there was a small smile playing along the edges of his lips. Sanji felt himself blush slightly and hurriedly looked away.

"Your knife skills in the kitchen still need some more work," he answered, but he couldn't quite hold back his own smile. Instead of being offended Zoro let out a contemplative hum.

"I'll work on it." Sanji didn't know why, but that sentence only helped to fluster him even more. Zoro tugged at their joined hand and they took their seats.

They had made only foods that could be eaten with chopsticks, so that wasn't too much of a problem. When it was time for dessert Sanji just wanted to opt-out of eating, but Zoro was apparently having none of it.

"Say 'Ahh'," he said while holding his spoon up to Sanji's mouth. The cook could feel all the eyes on him, so he couldn't refuse. Obediently he opened his mouth and accepted the spoonful of sweet cream. They ended up feeding each other in turn and the fake retching noises some of the others made the embarrassment almost worth it.

After cleaning the dishes Sanji was ready to call it a day and finally get his hand back to himself.

"So, are you going to hold hands in the bathroom too?" Usopp wanted to know in a curious voice. Sanji opened his mouth to tell him that no, of course not, Nami chimed in too.

"Is your love really gonna break at simple needs?" Zoro and Sanji stared at each other and came to the same conclusion: Fuck. Now they definitely can't let go. So Sanji forces another smile on his face.

"Of course it's not going to break because of something like this, Nami-san." The answering smile on Nami's face made a chill go down his spine.

"You can let go though, it's okay, it wouldn't be the first time a fart destroys a relationship." The following very short silence was broken by the bellowing laughter of Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper. Next to him, Zoro scowled at them.

"Hah, how weak were your relationships? I'd go through this farting hell for my loved one any time I'd have to." As sweet as that sentiment was meant to be, Sanji had the strong urge to hit his head against a hard surface. Or maybe Zoro's head, he wasn't really that picky.

"What he said," Sanji pressed out between gritted teeth and tugged on Zoro's hand. "Come on,  _ Honey _ , let's get ready for bed."

"Oh, before I forget!" Nami said, the same terrifying smile still firmly on her face. "A few of the Heart Pirates are going to sleep over here for the night. There was some kind of explosion over at their ship and since it's probably Luffy'S fault-" "Hey!" "- we offered them a bunk here. You two don't have a problem with sharing, right?"

Fuck.

* * *

Against all expectations, Zoro had enjoyed the hand holding ordeal. After all, holding something for a long time and not letting go was kind of his job as a swordsman. If he was completely honest he enjoyed it probably more then he should, the bathroom excursion included. But now they were at the point where things were starting to get uncomfortable again.

The two men were standing in front of the rows of bunk beds and were trying to decide what to do. Their hands were still intertwined, but noticeably more sweaty than before.

"I guess we should change?" Sanji looked over at him with an unusual nervous expression on his face. Hesitantly Zoro nodded.

"If we let go at the same time no one loses," he blurted out unthinking. He immediately wanted to take that statement back but instead of hitting him, Sanji started laughing.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this was a competition."

"It is one," Zoro replied. "But if we let go at the same time it's a tie."

"On three then. One, two, three." The two let go simultaneously and Zoro had to stop himself from rubbing his hand. It suddenly felt very empty and cold.

"We should use my bed," Sanji said while he started unbuttoning his shirt. "It's on the ground floor. That way no one gets hurt too bad if one of us gets kicked out."

"I didn't know that would be a concern." The shrug from the cook was way too innocent for Zoro's liking. A smirk appeared on the swordsman's face.

"Means we probably have to cuddle to keep that from happening." He got no response to that but the red he was able to see on Sanji's neck told him everything he needed to know.

He changed into his sleepwear while Sanji did the same. The only reason Zoro wore more than just simple loose pants was the frigid temperature outside. He turned back around, his mouth opened to tell Sanji to get into bed when everything just froze. In front of him stood Sanji, dressed in loose pants for sleeping and a familiar shirt.

Zoro's shirt.

He watched as Sanji lifted the shirt up to his nose and took a long breath. His mouth moved before he could think.

"Don't tell me it smells bad. I just tried it on once this morning." Sanji whirled around as if he had been caught doing something scandalous and a furious blush made its way onto his face.

"No, I just. I was just checking for. Uh. Nevermind, let's just get to bed!" It took Zoro a few seconds to remember how to use his arms and legs but then he made his way over to the bed and laid down next to Sanji. The space wasn't that big and they were forced into close quarters. The cuddling comment had been meant as a joke but Zoro quickly realized that he may have to go through with it if he didn't want to land on the ground in the middle of the night.

Hesitantly Zoro lifted one arm and moved it around Sanji's waist. The blond cook was facing away from him and didn't move an inch. Zoro was unsure if he was even breathing. Slowly he curled his arm around him and waited. He could feel his face burning with the amount of blood rushing through it. His heartbeat was racing and he almost didn't dare to breathe. The back of Sanji's ears were bright red.

Then Sanji let out a sigh and relaxed.

"If you want to cuddle me do it properly at least." Zoro couldn't help but smile. He tightened his arm and pulled the other man closer against his chest and leaned his head against the other's hair.

"Like this?"

"Better." Even though both of their faces were still burning with the embarrassment Zoro hadn't felt this comfortable in a long while. After a few minutes of silence where both had started to slowly drift off to sleep Zoro spoke.

"Hey, shitty cook." He was surprised by how soft his voice sounded even to his own ears. When had that happened? "Are you happy?"

"Your chin is prickly, you need to shave." Before Zoro could feel hurt by the obvious dismissal Sanji's hand had come up and intertwined his finger with Zoro's who were still resting on his stomach.

"I'll do that in the morning then," the green-haired swordsman answered with a small smile before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Sanji woke up feeling warm and relaxed. His face was buried in a somewhat hard pillow, but the smell made more than up for it. He took a deep breath and pressed himself even closer. The blanket around his shoulders and waist almost felt like arms who were hugging him and keeping him safe. It was a nice feeling, one he wouldn't mind waking up to more often.

Suddenly the blanket started to move. It tightened even more around him for a short moment before starting to rub up and down his back. That was the moment that Sanji realized that it wasn't a blanket at all but real arms that were wrapped around him. His eyes flew open and he stared at his pillow that wasn't a pillow either.

He tensed up, unsure of how to act in this situation. He remembered the prior evening, how flushed he had been, on how Zoro's shirt still smelled like him, how he had fallen asleep in the other's arms. The hands stopped moving on his back and Sanji almost let out a disappointed noise.

"You awake already?" Zoro whispered against his ear. A shiver ran down his spine. Not trusting his voice not to break he simply nodded.

"Everyone else is still sleeping," the other man continued to whisper. The movements of his hands picked back up and Sanji felt the tension disappear from his shoulders with every stroke. "I was thinking about surprising you with breakfast in bed actually." At that Sanji couldn't help but snort.

"How original," he teased.

"Well, it's not as if you have come up with anything groundbreaking or new."

"Excuse you?" Sanji said and leaned a bit back in Zoro's arms to look him in the eyes. "I'm way more original and surprising than you are."

"Surprising, huh?" Zoro said and suddenly Sanji's world was tilting and he was laying on his back with Zoro hovering above him. The smile on the swordsman's face was devastatingly handsome and Sanji didn't know where to look. "How's that for being surprising?" And then he leaned down and pressed a short, chaste kiss against Sanji's lips. When he pulled back Sanji needed a few seconds to get himself back under control so he wouldn't blurt out something idiotic like 'another'.

"Surprising would be if you were better at kissing than a five-year-old." Instead of being offended like Sanji had anticipated Zoro looked smug.

"Well, you know what they say," he said before leaning down again. "Practice makes perfect."

The next kiss was decidedly less chaste and a lot longer. The glide between their lips could almost be described as sensual and Sanji couldn't help himself and arched up into the kiss. His hands had wandered over Zoro's chest up over his shoulders and were now buried in the other man's hair to keep him in place.

Zoro nipped at his lips before running his tongue over the spot to soothe the twinge of pain. He was leaning on his forearms, essentially caging Sanji in, but instead of making him feel trapped it made him feel safe.

The second kiss turned into a third and a fourth and a fifth and somewhere Sanji stopped counting since he was too busy feeling things. The slow and lazy slide of their tongues against each other, the pressure against his lips, the warm feeling of Zoro's hands on his arms and shoulders, the surprisingly soft texture of the other man's hair against his palms, the heavy press of the body above his.

At one point Zoro's lips drifted off, kissing along his cheeks, over his nose before wandering down along his jaw and towards his neck. Sanji relished the attention he received and craned his neck back to give Zoro more room to work with. He was rewarded by teeth grazing over his neck. Against his will, his lips opened and he released an obscene sounding moan.

"Oh my god, there are children present!" the shrieking voice of Usopp ripped through the early morning quiet.

"I'm 17!" Chopper complained.

“I’m never bunking with you ever again,” came the voice from a tired sounding Penguin who was being shushed by Shachi.

Sanji's eyes flew open and he locked eyes with Zoro. The look on the other's face was mortified. They had completely forgotten that they weren't alone. In one quick movement, the swordsman rolled away from Sanji and stood up. Before grabbing his clothes and leaving the room he leaned down one more time.

"I'm going ahead to the kitchen. See you in a bit." He pressed another quick kiss against Sanji's mouth and straightened up.

Sanji stayed in bed for a few moments longer and pressed his hands against his burning face. That was a problem.

He looked down at himself.

And that was another entirely different but not unrelated problem.

Fuck.

* * *

Zoro's body was still buzzing with adrenaline when Sanji joined him in the kitchen for the breakfast preparations. His mind couldn't stop replaying the scene from earlier this morning. How he had woken up, Sanji nestled warmly in his arms. How their playful teasing turned into so much more enjoyable activities. Zoro hadn't even known he could be playful with the other man without it turning into a full out brawl. Not that he didn't enjoy those too on occasion.

But this was different. This was new and exciting and made a pleasant shiver run down his spine. He had already decided that winning the bet by making Sanji fall for him wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Now he knew that this was exactly what he wanted to do. And once he decided on something he was going to stick with it.

He enjoyed spending time together, as surprising as that sounded. He admired the other man's skills, his intelligence, his loyalty. And now he also admired his legs, his arms, his hands, his ass.

Zoro smirked. He wouldn't mind getting a bit more acquainted with some of Sanji's assets. But first, he needed to woo the cook. He didn't just want Sanji to give up. He wanted him to be truly happy while being with Zoro. He wanted the cook to actually want to be with him.

Because that's what Zoro realized he wanted too.

They quickly got to work but Zoro noticed how distracted he was. He couldn't help but watch Sanji's hands as they separated and whisked eggs, or when he kneaded the dough for the bread. He was staring, he knew, but he couldn't help himself. Those hands had been in his hair and under his shirt not even half an hour ago. He wanted them back on his body.

A sharp pain brought him back to what he was doing. He had managed to cut himself while cutting the vegetables. Curiously he held his hand up to his face. He couldn't even remember the last time he had cut himself on his knife or sword.

"Are you bleeding?" Sanji was suddenly right next to him.

"Yeah, but it's not that bad. I just nicked myself."

"Let me see." Sanji gently took his hand and inspected the damage. Zoro watched bemused as his hand was cleaned and bandaged. It was only a small cut but. Normally his pride would be insulted by how Sanji was fussing but now it made him feel special and treasured. He found he didn't mind it as much in this situation. Especially when Sanji leaned down and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

"You need to take better care of these," he said looking up through his lashes. "I'm not the only one who works with their hands." Zoro lifted his other hand and placed it on top of Sanji's. His thumb started rubbing soothing circles into it. They stood together in the kitchen while the morning light kept creeping in and just stared at each other in silence, a couple of small smiles playing along their lips.

Zoro was the first one to break the quiet.

"Are you happy?" Sanji blinked at him, bemused.

"Why are you always asking me that?"

"Because I want you to be," Zoro shrugged. "So? Are you?"

"Right now I'm hungry," was the cheeky answer he got in response. "So finish cutting these please."

"Okay, okay." Zoro lifted his hands in surrender and picked up the knife again. He would get his answer sooner or later.

He just hoped it would be sooner.

* * *

Sanji didn't know what to think anymore. The situation with Zoro only confused him more with every second.

On the one hand, there was the image of Zoro Sanji had had for the last few years ever since he knew him.

On the other hand, there was the Zoro he had gotten to know over the last few days.

It was hard to combine the two in his head. But the most confusing part was that it wasn't hard at all. When he looked closely at all their interactions these past few days all the qualities he liked about Zoro had always been there, Sanji just hadn't wanted to see them. He was sure Zoro was having a similar problem.

Or at least he hoped so.

God, it would suck to start crushing on Zoro when the other didn't return his feelings.

Not that Sanji was crushing or developing feelings for that mosshead. No way.

So when Luffy called for another feast Sanji's first thought was that alcohol sounded really good right about now. That was how he ended up drunk next to an also drunken Zoro sitting outside and leaning against the mast of the Sunny. The rest of their crew and the Heart Pirates were all merrily occupying the rest of the deck. The whole atmosphere was relaxed. It was exactly what Sanji had needed. So no one could blame him for leaning not only on the mast but also on the warm body beside him.

"Oi, Sanji," Zoro said, his head resting against Sanji's. "Are you happy?" That made Sanji chuckle. Why was the other man so focused on Sanji's happiness?

"Could be happier," he answered slightly slurred. It was true. He could be sitting in Zoro's lap instead of next to it. Zoro snorted before taking his hand. His thumb started rubbing circles against his palm again and Sanji felt himself relax even further.

"I like your hands," Zoro said. "They're skilled and strong and still look sinful when you're in the kitchen."

"I like your hands," Sanji said, ignoring the pleased flush on his cheeks. "They have a lot of scars but their grip is strong and they look almost elegant when you wield your swords."

"I like your legs," Zoro continued. "They're strong as fuck and look hot as hell, especially in those slacks f yours. Make your ass look great too."

"I know," Sanji replied smugly before starting to giggle.

"I like your laugh," Zoro said, his head heavy on top of Sanji's. "Makes me feel all fuzzy and warm and shit."

"Aww, how cute. The big, mean swordsman has feelings." Sanji couldn't help but tease him to try and distract from the fact how much he enjoyed being flattered by the other man.

"I do. Have feelings, that is." Zoro's tone was so serious that it made Sanji lift his head. There was a warmth in Zoro's eyes that made the butterflies in Sanji's stomach come to life.

"And what are those feelings?" he asked almost breathlessly. Zoro smiled.

"Can't tell you. Wanna win this bet." Sanji felt like he was falling and like he was flying at the same time. He couldn't help the giant grin that stretched over his face. He lifted one hand and rested it on Zoro's cheek before leaning in. Before their lips could touch Sanji stopped.

"Well, I wanna win too," he whispered against Zoro's lips. With a sigh, he closed the remaining distance and the two of them lost themselves in each other, talking forgotten.

Much later, when most of the others had already gone to bed the two of them were still sitting against the mast. Sanji had finally crawled into Zoro's lap and was enjoying the warmth of those big, strong arms around him when the other started moving. Sanji made his displeasure known by hitting him against the chest.

"Stop squirming, I'm sitting here," he complained but Zoro pressed a kiss against his cheek and showed him the knife he had gotten out of his pocket.

"And what are you gonna do with that?" Zoro just hummed and started scratching the knife against the mast of the Sunny. Sanji's eyes widened and he hurriedly looked around.

"Franky's gonna kill you," he whispered against Zoro's ear.

"Worth it," was the only reply he got. Sanji watched with wide eyes as Zoro carved out their initials. He didn't put anything fancy around them, no heart or date. Just a simple ' _ S _ ' next to a ' _ Z _ '. That was it.

Sanji felt as if his heart would explode any second. He turned his head and started pressing kiss after kiss against Zoro's cheek working his way up to the other's mouth. Just before their lips could connect they heard a voice shout next to them.

"What do you assholes think you're doing to my ship?!" They both looked at each other before Zoro whispered "Run" and they jumped up and away.

Laughing they started running off of the Sunny and into the night, their hands clasped tightly together. As they were running there was only one thought in Sanji's head.

_ 'I'm really happy right now.' _


	5. Crash and Burn

After running away from the Sunny and their angry carpenter they were wandering aimlessly through the streets of the city, the only light being the moon in the sky and the occasional streetlight. Their hands were still firmly clasped together and Sanji was almost feeling giddy with the feeling of happiness and butterflies that were still buzzing through his body. Judging from the grin on Zoro’s face he felt the same. 

At least that was what Sanji hoped. 

He could ask of course, but he was pretty sure that meant losing the bet. And a small part of him still insisted that this new Zoro would disappear as soon as the bet was over and Sanji would be left embarrassed, alone, and heartbroken. And that just wasn’t a risk he was willing to take. 

Zoro chose that moment to use the grip he had on Sanji’s hand to pull him closer and throw an arm around his shoulder. He pressed a noisy kiss against his cheek and smiled.

“I’m hungry,” the swordsman announced. Sanji snorted.

“And what am I supposed to do now?” Zoro shrugged his shoulders.

“I don't know, you're the cook. Feed me I guess.”

“And with what? I don’t have food on me and I’m pretty sure no restaurant is still open at 2 AM.” Zoro let out a contemplative hum.

“We could sneak in the Polar Tang. How far away from the harbor are we?”

“I don’t know, I was just following you.”

“Well, then we can’t be too far away.” Sanji groaned through his drunken laughter.

“I can’t believe you got us lost in the middle of the night.”

“I didn’t get us lost,” Zoro protested but he was also giggling. So he wasn’t entirely sober either yet.

“Of course you did!” Sanji’s stomach was hurting from laughing but he didn't care. It felt too good to just let loose.

“You think Franky has calmed down already?” Zoro was asking. Thinking back to the enraged face of their crewmate Sanji couldn’t help but giggle again.

“No, I don't think so. What were you thinking, doing that to Sunny?” Zoro shrugged again.

“Wasn’t thinking. Wanted to make you happy.” Sanji knew the flush on his face wasn’t from the cold. He stopped and put his arms around Zoro’s neck, smiling when the other’s arms automatically wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer. Sanji leaned in until their noses were touching. Maybe it was because he was still drunk, maybe it was because nothing felt quite real in the middle of this snowy night but in the end, Sanji didn’t care at that moment.

“Ask me again.” Zoro let out a confused sound.

“You know what I mean,” Sanji insisted, one of his gloved hands sliding up into Zoro’s hair. “Ask me again.” There was a light of understanding in the other’s eyes before he smiled one of the softest smiles that Sanji had ever seen on the other’s face. He desperately hoped the alcohol wouldn’t cause him to forget this sight the next morning. This was something that he wanted to treasure until the end of his days. 

“Hey, Sanji,” Zoro whispered, his lips only a breath away from Sanji’s. “Are you happy?” The next few seconds felt like a dream.

Or more accurately a nightmare.

Out of nowhere a glowing hand grabbed the bag of Zoro’s head and pulled him back and out of Sanji’s arms. In an instinctual movement, Sanji’s leg kicked out and connected with whoever had attacked them, making them lose their grip on the other’s hair. Zoro fell to the floor, his hands coming up to clutch at his still slightly glowing head.

“Oi, are you alright?” Sanji asked, his hands reaching for the other man. Before he could reach him however Zoro had already stood up on his own and turned to where his attacker had fallen.

“Of course I am. Who is that piece of shit?”

“I’m not quite sure, but he brought his friends.” Sanji pointed down the street where a group of five more thugs had appeared. One of them seemed familiar. With a start Sanji recognized him.

“Oh for fucks sake,” he cursed, his fists balled in a fit of anger. “It’s those shitholes from yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Zoro asked, sounding a bit confused.

“Yeah, the ones who attacked us in the street.”

“Shit, he still remembers, boss!” One of the men yelled out, suddenly sounding scared. “Hibiki didn’t do his thing.”

“Shut up!” The man who had been laying on the ground a second before was now scrambling up, holding his heavily bleeding nose. “I got one of them!” Worried Sanji looked over to Zoro who seemed fine at the least. But what had this Hibiki guy done to him?

“Are you sure you’re fine?” he asked again. Zoro let out an annoyed huff.

“Of course I’m fine. Let’s beat the shit out of them and go back to the ship, shitty cook!”

“What’s that?” Sanji tried to tease to lighten the mood. “No calling me  _ ‘Darling’  _ today?” 

“The fuck?” Zoro asked while drawing his swords. “Are you sure you’re fine? You’re sprouting even more bullshit than usual.” And before Sanji could say anything to that he launched himself at their enemies. Sanji didn’t have a choice but to follow him. He ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach and concentrated on making sure the green-haired idiot who had captured his heart wouldn’t get himself killed. 

The fight was over embarrassingly fast. Sanji stood next to Zoro and surveyed the carnage they had left behind. No one was dead but none of them would be standing anytime soon either. Out of reflex ( _ and when had this started to be a reflex he had in the first place? _ ), he reached for Zoro’s hand again.

Only to grab air.

Dumbfounded, Sanji looked at the other man who was cradling his hand against his chest.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Sanji raised an eyebrow at that, still ignoring the growing feeling of dread in his stomach.

“Trying to take my boyfriend’s hand? What did you think I was doing?”

“Boyfriend?” Zoro took a step back. The look on his face was absolutely horrified. “Are you crazy? Did you hit your head in the fight or something?” The dread in his stomach spread through the rest of his body and made him feel numb.

“What are you talking about?” Sanji asked, a bit of desperation seeping into his voice. “We’ve been together for the last few days. Can’t you remember?” He tried to grab Zoro’s hand again, but the other always stayed just out of arm's reach. 

“Why would I ever agree to date you?” Zoro asked, his tone incredulous. 

“Because of the bet!” Sanji blurted out, his panic spiking.

“What bet?” Zoro yelled back, clearly aggravated himself. 

“The bet we made back on Cobrea!”

“We are still on Cobrea!” Sanji reeled back as if Zoro had slapped him.

“What?” he asked, his voice sounding breathless.

“We’re on our food run, remember?” Now Zoro sounded a bit concerned himself, but he still kept his distance to Sanji. But Sanji didn't even notice anymore, too busy trying to make sense of the situation. In the back of his mind, he wondered how all this looked. Two men standing on the street surrounded by unconscious bodies, screaming at each other. 

“Is that the last thing you remember?” Sanji asked, his gaze fixed on Zoro’S face. Zoro shot him a glare.

“Of course it is!”

“Zoro, we’re not on Cobrea anymore. Look around!” With a wide arc of his hand, Sanji gestured to the snow-covered streets around them. Cobrea had been a summer island. When the swordsman noticed this the look on his face morphed into one of confusion. 

“What the hell? When did we get here? What did you do, shitty cook?”

“I didn’t do anything! We left Cobrea days ago. Do you seriously not remember anything since then?” Zoro scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

“There’s nothing to remember. You're the one acting weird and I bet all of this is your fault.” Sanji was this close ripping out his hair in frustration. Or to start crying. In the end, he did neither of those things.

He took a deep breath and counted backward from ten. Everything was fine. Zoro had been hit with something from that weird pirate earlier. Sanji just needed to get him to reverse it. When he turned around to do just that he noticed that the bodies had disappeared. There were drag marks in the snow. Some of their friends must’ve arrived and rescued their friend while he and Zoro had been occupied by shouting at each other. The urge to scream was getting stronger and stronger each second. 

Fine. Whatever.

“Let’s go back to the ship. If you don't believe me, maybe the others can convince you.” He turned around and started walking. He looked back over his shoulder and shouted at the still-standing swordsman. 

“You better keep up! If You get lost here I am not going to look for you, shitty mosshead!” He turned his head back quickly to hide his expression.

Zoro didn't need to know that he was lying. And he also didn't need to see silent tears that had started running down Sanji’s face.

* * *

Zoro was confused.

Apparently, he was missing his memories of the last five days. And if that wasn’t concerning enough in and of itself what supposedly had happened in those past five days was even more worrisome.

“I agreed to what?” he asked. He was sitting in the kitchen of the Thousand Sunny, the rest of the Strawhats and Law ( _ and when did he get here? _ ) sitting opposite of him. The only one, not present was Sanji. After he had dropped him off with a very sleepy Nami ( _ and hadn’t that been strange. He had apologized for waking her, but he had  _ **_still_ ** _ woken her up. Something was definitely not right here _ ) and had given her a clipped explanation he had just left.

“You and Sanji agreed to date each other,” Nami repeated her earlier statement, but it still didn’t make any sense to him. 

“After you kissed Sanji, if I may add,” Robin said. Zoro’s eye snapped to her and he could feel his neck heating up in embarrassment.

“After I did what?!”

“After you kis-,” Usopp started to repeat but Zoro interrupted him

“I heard you all the first time!”

“Why are you asking then?” Luffy asked sleepily from where he was leaning against Law’s back. 

“We already explained what happened. Is it really that absurd to believe?” Nami asked, obviously tired.

“Yes,” Zoro answered.

’ _ No _ ,’ whispered a tiny voice in his mind but Zoro was pretty good at not listening to that voice.

“More importantly,” Robin said, her hands wrapped around a cup. Zoro asks himself if Sanji had prepared that for her. “We need to figure out what happened to you. Obviously, something that the pirate earlier did to you is the cause of that. We need to figure out if it’s permanent and if there is a way to undo it.” The others nodded in agreement before Nami yawned.

“Let’s talk about it in the morning. No one is hurt and I can't think when I’m this tired.”

“Well I don't know about the ‘ _ no one is hurt _ ’ thing…” Usopp whispered but didn’t say anything else when Nami threw a warning glare his way. They made their way back to their sleeping quarters while Brook took up his post as a lookout on the deck. When they arrived at their bunks they saw that Sanji was already sleeping. His blanket was pulled up over his ears and it seemed he was sleeping soundly. 

Zoro felt the strangest urge to climb into the bed with him and wrap him up in his arms. Shaking his head to get rid of the weird impulse he changed into his own sleeping clothes and went to bed. He did stop for a moment though because his favorite shirt and pants were missing and there were a few new clothes there that he had never seen before but were definitely his style. They just looked better somehow. And was that a suit? Whatever. That was future-Zoro’s problem.

He still couldn't help but feel that his arms were strangely empty though. 

He slept fitfully through the night, always waking up with the feeling that he was missing something and that it was just out of reach. There were a lot of confusing pictures and impressions floating through his mind and he could never be sure if they were real or if they were dreams. 

In the morning he woke up when he heard movement from Sanji’s bunk. He didn’t know why but he tracked his progress across the room, suddenly on high alert and ready to jump out of bed too. Even after Sanji had left the room his body refused to relax and fall back asleep again. Zoro just felt even more confused. 

What the fuck was going on?

* * *

Sanji was fine.

After a good night’s rest and some time to himself, he had reached the conclusion that this was the best thing that could’ve happened to him. If Zoro didn’t remember the bet that meant that Sanji’s life could go back to normal. No more forcing himself to spent time with the mosshead, no more forced hugs or handholds or kisses or sharing his bunk or-

He took a deep breath.

He could finally focus back on his cooking and on making life on the boat easier for Nami and Robin. 

He entered the kitchen and started pulling out the ingredients he would need for breakfast. He stopped himself as he pulled out utensils for two people though. No one else here but him, just the way he liked it. No one who could get in his way, no one who was trying to be better for Sanji's sake, no one to mess with his cooking, no one to laugh with, no one-

Another deep breath.

He finished the last preparations just in time for the rest of the crew to arrive. Of course, Law was being dragged in by Luffy as had become the norm for when the two crews were anchoring in the same harbor. It didn’t matter to Sanji, one more mouth to feed wasn't that hard. And Law was very easy to please as long as you didn't try to feed him bread. 

He and Zoro are very alike in that way, the green-haired swordsman was happy with anything as long as he got a bit of sake to go with the food. The last few days he had always smiled when Sanji put out some extra just for him and-

He stopped himself and took another deep breath.

He put on his best smile and started serving everyone their plates. He even managed to keep up the face when he placed Zoro’s plate in front of him with his usual “Here you go mosshead”. Before he could walk away though Zoro stopped him.

“What’s this?” he asked, clearly confused. Sanji looked down at the plate and his breath stopped. Without thinking he had made the same special plate he had made the last few days and not the bland breakfast that Zoro usually preferred. He had also given him the big bottle of sake too and not the usual one. 

Flustered and caught out he turned away.

“Sorry, force of habit,” he mumbled before fleeing back behind the counter.

“We should probably talk about the elephant in the room,” Nami said. “What are we going to do about Zoro?”

“Don’t talk about me as if I'm not here,” the man in question grumbled, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his face twisted into something that other people would call a pout. Sanji did not think that he looked cute.

“I did some research last night,” Law said, the cup of coffee Sanji had handed him prior cradled in his hands. “From what we know and what Sanji-ya and Zoro-ya told us last night I was able to find out who we're dealing with.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded wanted poster.

“‘ _ Mind Eraser _ ’ Hibiki, part of the Twister Pirates. They’ve been in the New World for a while and the only thing of note is that they haven't joined a bigger alliance yet. This Hibiki has a Devil Fruit that lets him manipulate his victims' memories.”

“So what does that mean for Zoro?” Chopper chimed in, a curious and worried look on his face. Sanji was holding his breath as he waited for Law to continue.

“As far as I know the effects shouldn’t be permanent, but the reports about the duration have been conflicting. Some say they regained their memories after only a day, some took over a year and some are still missing theirs up to this day.”

“Well, that's good news.” It took Sanji a moment to realize it had been him who had spoken. Every eye in the room was on him, so he forced himself to continue as if he had meant to speak in the first place. “That just means the mosshead will be alright. So everything can go back to normal now.”

“But Sanji,” Nami said, a sad frown on her face. “What about you?”

“What about me, Nami-san?” he asked, a sunny smile on his face. “If you’re referring to the bet, that was a stupid decision we made when we were all drunk. I think it’s better this way. Now the mosshead doesn't have to be embarrassed that I had him beat. I will graciously overlook it this time and not gloat about my deserved victory.”

That made Zoro snort.

“Asif. I’m inclined to believe a lot of stuff but me falling for you? In your dreams, shitty pervert.” Sanji felt his smile slipping from his face and the voice in the back of his head was getting louder. 

‘ _ He never wanted you, it was all an act, you’re so stupid, stupid, stupid _ ’.

He fixed his smile before anyone could notice. Or at least he hoped he had.

“Think what you want, mosshead, but when your memories return you'll know and you’ll be forced to admit defeat.” With that, he turned around and started the process of cleaning up. It would take him a bit longer again since there was no one helping him anymore.

He liked it better this way anyway. No second pair of hands next to him, no crooked smile, no companionable silence, no more-

He took a deep breath.

Everything was better this way. If he cleaned alone, no one would see him cry.

He took another deep breath.

* * *

Zoro didn’t like this.

He wasn’t talking about the missing memories. Sure, he wasn't thrilled about that but there was nothing they could do about that now. It calmed his nerves that he would one day regain them, one way or another.

No, what bothered him was Sanji. The cook had been his usual cocky, annoying self this morning in the kitchen. But at the same time, it hadn’t been his usual behavior at all. The words he said had been expected but they didn't match up with his body or his face. Even his voice hadn't been as convincing as usual. 

He obviously was affected by what had happened in the last few days. His poker face had been good, but somehow Zoro still knew he had been lying. Maybe even to himself. It bothered him to see Sanji so unhappy. He had the strange urge to ask him what was wrong. He wanted to know what he could do to make the other man happy.

And he had wanted to help clean the table, which was weird.

Still lost in his thoughts he made his way outside. A bit of training would help him clear his head. Before he could make the climb up to the Crowsnest however his attention was caught by Robin who was sitting by the mast and was waving at him. Curious he made his way over to her.

“You need anything?” he asked when he was standing in front of the older woman.

“Actually, I wanted to know if you needed something,” she said with her usual mysterious smile. “This must be confusing for you. If you have any questions or just want to vent I am willing to listen. And you can be sure that I’ll keep your secrets.”

“Yeah, until you can exploit for your own gain you mean,” he grumbled but took a seat by her side. Maybe talking about this would help him. And if it didn't there was always training till he dropped.

“Naturally,” Robin answered. “So, what do you want to talk about?” There were many things Zoro wanted to ask. Like what had all of them been thinking when they agreed the bet between him and Sanji was a good idea? Or why no one had stopped them when things seemed to get serious or too far? Had they all laughed about it behind their backs? 

“Why do I feel the urge to ask Sanji if he's happy?” That hadn't been what he had wanted to ask. She seemed to be surprised as well but that was replaced fairly quickly by a bright smile.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. But before Zoro could give her an angry retort she continued.”But I think you should ask him anyway. I mean what could it hurt. And if you're doing that, maybe ask him about this as well.” She pointed down between them. Zoro followed her finger and noticed a carving in the mast.

His first thought was ‘ _ Oh shit, who had the balls to do that? _ ’

His second thought was a simple ‘ _ Oh _ .’

Well shit.

* * *

Sanji was busy preparing lunch for all of them. 

If he was honest with himself he would admit that he had picked a difficult dish on purpose to give himself and his hands something to do that wasn’t crying or trying to grab someone else’s hand. But denial was so much more comfortable.

He was slicing and cleaning the vegetables when the door opened. Thinking it was probably Chopper or Usopp on their way through Sanji didn’t even look in the direction of the door. 

“Oi,” said the last voice that Sanji wanted to hear right now. Or was it the only one? It was hard to tell sometimes. Without looking up he answered.

“What?”

“Are you happy?” Sanji dropped his knife. He didn’t care. Far faster than he thought possible his head snapped around and fixed Zoro with a look.

“What did you just say?” he demanded to know, his voice slightly shaky. Zoro was still looking at the dropped knife with wide eyes.

“Uhm, I asked if you were happy?” He looked unsure of himself, which was a look that Sanji would have never guessed Zoro could have. His shoulders dropped in disappointment when he realized that no, Zoro didn't have his memories back. It was probably something the others had told him and now he wanted to tease Sanji about it.

Suddenly he was feeling angry and he turned back towards the sink and picked up a new knife. 

“Of course I’m happy. I don’t have to deal with you 24/7 anymore. So if you could leave my kitchen that would be great, thank you.” He started working on the food again and waited to hear retreating footsteps telling him that he was alone again. But they never came. Instead, the footsteps came closer.

“You’re lying,” Zoro said, standing directly next to him. “Why?”

“I’m not lying, I really do want you to leave.”

“Fine. Then tell me why I carved our initials in the mast of the Sunny.” Sanji was frozen to the spot. The image from the evening before flashed through his mind's eye ( _ and had it not even been 24 hours since his life had been changed so drastically again? _ ) and he tried to keep his voice even when he answered.

“I dared you to do it.” 

“Yeah, no, I don't believe that even for a second,” Zoro answered and why was he still here? Why wasn't he leaving Sanji alone? “Even if we had been too stubborn to call this dumb bet off, neither you nor I would ever damage the Sunny, not even for a prank. She means too much to all of us for that.” Sanji’s grip on his knife was so tight that his knuckles had turned white. He still refused to look up at the other man standing next to him. 

“What do you want me to say here?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“I want to know if you're happy. And why.” And this hurt. It hurt more than Sanji had thought possible. He let out a humorless chuckle.

“Why? So you can gloat about it? So you can win this bet after all? No thank you, I’d rather keep the last bits of pride that I have left.”

“What? No.” Zoro seemed genuine enough but Sanji had been fooled by him before. He finally looked up. He didn’t know what the look in his eyes was but it was enough to make the other man recoil. 

“Then why do you want to know?” Sanji pressed out between gritted teeth.

“I don’t know! That’s why I’m asking!” Zoro yelled back.

“That’s not a good enough reason,” Sanji decided. “Just drop it Zoro. Everything will be back to normal in a few days.” There was silence for a long while before finally, Zoro seemed to take the hint and left. Sanji was alone again

He took a deep breath and continued with his work.

* * *

Zoro didn't know how to feel. 

One the one hand he was only too happy to drop the subject and never talk about this weird experience ever again.

But on the other hand, there was something in him that screamed not to do that. He would lose something important if he did. 

He decided training would be his best option to sort through these feelings. He went into their sleeping quarters to retrieve some of the weights he had stored there but stopped in the middle of the room, his gaze glued to a familiar article of clothing. It was a shirt. His shirt, to be exact. 

Like in trance he walked over to Sanji's bed and picked it up. Without conscious thought, he raised it to his face. It didn’t smell like him at all. The only thing he could smell on this was Sanji. The cook had been wearing this, probably to sleep. Unbidden the picture of the sleeping Sanji from the night before came back into his thoughts. 

Had he been wearing this then?

A sudden but impossible strong urge to hold the other man close overcame him. It almost sent Zoro to his knees. He had never felt such longing before. He stared down at the shirt and came to a decision.

Even if he didn’t have his memories right now, his body remembered. And Zoro had always trusted his gut instinct. Now he only had to decide how he could reach his goal.

He needed to speak with Nami.


	6. Resolution

It took a bit of convincing to prolong their stay at the island for a few days. Nami had wanted to move on quickly since she and her orange trees weren't fans of the cold but when Zoro had explained his plans she had agreed. And of course, doubled his debt with her. But Zoro knew it would be worth it in the end. 

Or at least he hoped so. 

In reality, he was unsure about everything. Was this really what Sanji wanted from him? Was it what Zoro wanted? Why was he doing this? Just because he carved their initials into the mast and Sanji wore his shirt to sleep? That was nothing against the rest of their shared history. 

He had no memories of the last few days or of the bet they had supposedly entered into. He had no obligation to do anything. So what if Sanji looked sad? As long as he did his job and protected the rest of the crew when Zoro went down in a fight, Sanji’s mood had nothing to do with him or affected him in any way. 

So why was it that one look at Sanji’s fake smiles and him standing alone in the kitchen made Zoro’s chest hurt? Why was it that he tried to sneak a peek at Sanji wearing his shirt when he woke up this morning?

Why was there the overwhelming urge to ask if Sanji was happy? The need to know if he could be happy with Zoro if he could only give him a chance to prove it.

And prove it he would. Together with Nami, Robin, and Usopp, Zoro had planned out everything. Every detail had been thought of, starting with where they would go, what Zoro would wear, down to how he was going to behave, and what he was going to say. There was no room for error and Zoro would be damned if he didn't accept and beat this challenge too. 

The hardest part had actually been to convince Luffy not to go with them. After he had overheard them discussing food he had demanded to come along. It had taken a lot of threatening from Nami and convincing from Law to make him let the thing go. 

Law had ended up volunteering to take the other captain out to dinner and make sure that he was causing trouble at the opposite end of the island so there was no chance that he could accidentally ruin it.

Zoro thought he would owe the other man too, but after looking at Laws face he had realized that it wasn't nearly as big a chore and inconvenience as the other captain had made it out to be. 

Because this was what the bet had been in the beginning: A challenge Zoro wanted to beat, he was sure of it. He didn’t know when it had morphed into something else but his gut instinct told him it had. And Zoro trusted his gut. He trusted his feelings whenever he looked at Sanji and just knew that the other man wasn't happy. 

He trusted the feeling of a phantom weight in his arms when he was lying in his bed. He trusted the tingly feeling on his lips when he looked at Sanji for longer. 

Now he had to hope he wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

* * *

Sanji was suspicious.

He knew the original plan had been to leave the island after a few days of rest. But now suddenly there was something that Usopp just had to check out and he wasn't quite sure how long it would take him. Sanji had been ready to chew him out for getting in the way of Nami's planning but the navigator had agreed so readily that Sanji had been confused for a moment.

Was there something that Nami wasn’t telling them? Or were they still trying to try and find that pirate crew that had attacked him and Zoro? If that was the case Sanji wished they would let the matter go. There was nothing they could do and he just wanted to forget about it.

Maybe he should try to find that guy and ask him to take his memories too. Wouldn’t that be a fun experience? But no, Sanji’s mind had always been his own even in his darkest moments and he wanted to keep it that way. Besides, he knew how to handle suffering and loss. This was just another thing he had to shoulder through. He had survived way worse, this was nothing.

So when Nami asked him to run some errands for her he gave her his best smile and basically jumped on the task. This was the perfect distraction that he had needed. 

He started to be confused when the address he had been given turned out to be a restaurant. His confusion grew when he was addressed by name and was being led to the seating area. His breath momentarily stopped when he looked around. The whole outer wall of the room had been turned into one giant aquarium. He had thought the one one the Sunny was big, but this was topping that. It was also filled with a lot more decorative fish rather than edible ones.

The whole atmosphere felt more like it was out of a dream than reality. This impression grew only stronger when his eyes landed on the only other person in the room.

Zoro stood up from where he had been sitting at a table in the middle of the room and walked over to Sanji with confident steps. He was wearing the suit the two of them had picked out together on their hunt for clothes to replace the ruined ones. 

Sanji remembered vividly his reaction to Zoro in his suit so he hadn’t been able to resist the chance to make him buy a real one for himself. Sanji hadn’t seen the final result because he had been busy dealing with the salesperson but now he was able to take in the whole thing in its full glory. 

The sight in front of him was almost illegal.

“Would you please have dinner with me?” Sanji was tempted to look over his shoulder to try and look for someone else because there was no way Zoro had just said those words. Especially not to him. But he had seen the swordsman's lips move and the look that was directed at him was expectant.

So Sanji did the only thing he was able to at that moment.

He nodded and allowed Zoro to lead him to their table. The other man was quick to pull out his chair for him before sitting down opposite him. Sanji was still too flabbergasted and confused to say anything. He could only stare at Zoro. 

“I hope it’s alright that I already ordered for both of us,” Zoro said, his hands placed in front of him on the table. His hands were still groomed from the bath Sanji had forced him into a few days ago and were slightly shining under the soft light. “I asked them for the recommendations of the chef. I know you like those dishes, to learn more about a place, and to see if someone is good at their job or not.” 

When had Zoro paid close enough attention to Sanji to learn that fact about him? Or had he asked others about what he should do? Sanji just knew that it wasn’t a very Zoro kind of behavior. 

“I do,” he answered, his voice wary. “Thank you. But what is all of this about?” Zoro shrugged. It was the first familiar thing he had done all evening and Sanji latched onto it like a lifeline. 

“I wanted to make up for all the trouble I've caused you over the last few days. I thought this might be appropriate.” Sanji didn’t get a chance to tell him how freaked out this whole thing made him because at that moment a server brought their first course. With a quietly murmured ‘ _ Thank you for the food _ ’ they started to eat. 

The food was delicious and for a short moment, Sanji allowed himself to forget everything around him and just enjoy the food. 

Much too quickly the food was gone and the empty plates were removed. The one thing he had noticed during the meal had been Zoro's impeccable table manners, something that the other man had never paid any mind to before, not even when they had been ‘ _ together _ ’. 

None of this made sense to Sanji. Zoro was acting so unlike him that it put him on edge. This was almost worse than the normal Zoro without his memories because it showed him the stark difference between all three versions of the other man. 

There was the Zoro that Sanji had known for all these years. He was rude, blunt, had no manners, and didn’t care about what anyone thought of him. He was stubborn, had no sense of direction, and drove Sanji up the wall. 

Then there was the Zoro that Sanji had started to refer to as ‘ _ his _ ’ Zoro in his head. He was everything Sanji had always known him to be and still he managed to surprise him and be so much more. He had been gentle and kind, had considered Sanji’s feelings but had also not been afraid to push back and tease him. He had been a calming presence in his life and had managed to make him laugh until his stomach hurt. 

And then there was this Zoro. He looked like him ( _ and he looked also hot as fuck _ ), sure, but it just wasn’t the same. This polished, polite version just managed to give Sanji the creeps. But it also showed what Zoro thought Sanji would want in a relationship, not what he would actually be like. He had shown Sanji what being with him would be like and it wasn't this.

Which meant that everything in those five days had been real. The thought hurt so much more than he thought it would because it meant he had truly lost  _ ‘his’  _ Zoro. 

The server came back with their second course before either man could say anything else. But now Sanji couldn’t concentrate on the beautiful food anymore, not when Zoro was acting so unlike himself. It set him on edge and triggered his fight or flight instinct. Only that flight had never been an option when it had come to either of them. 

“Okay, spit it out,” Sanji said, putting down his utensils. “What is all of this really about? Why are you acting like this?” Zoro gave him a confused look. 

“Isn’t this how you wanted me to behave?”

“No, it's not,” Sanji answered him in a blunt tone of voice.

“If this is still about the bet this wouldn't be how you can win. It was about making someone fall for you, not for the perfected version of you. This is just creepy and wrong.” Zoro let out a frustrated huff and pushed a hand through his hair. Sanji was relieved to see a glimpse of his normal behavior. That meant at the very least he wasn't mind-controlled. 

Because their lives were at a point where that was a legitimate concern. 

“What do you want me to do?” Zoro asked, clearly frustrated.

“I want you to be yourself, shitty mosshead.”

“But you don’t like me when I act myself!” Zoro burst out. Slightly taken aback Sanji leaned back in his chair. With another frustrated huff, Zoro loosened his tie and shoved back his chair. “You’ve complained about me enough times that I know that. So I wanted to try and be better this time around.” He rubbed a hand over his face and Sanji almost didn’t catch the next part.

“I just wanted to win, but I guess you’ll never like me whatever I end up doing.”

“Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know!” Zoro yelled and jumped out of his chair. “I don’t know, okay, I just know that I can’t stand the look on your face right now!” The two men looked at each other, the one confused and angry, the other frustrated and starting to look resigned. 

Sanji noticed when Zoro’s shoulders fell into a defeated slump that he had never seen on the other man. Not even back on Sabaody or Thriller Bark had he looked that hopeless.

“Forget it,” Zoro sighed out and turned towards the door. “This was a stupid idea, to begin with.” And at that moment Sanji realized that Zoro wanted to give up. That realization made him even angrier then everything else combined. How dare he just give up and walk away from all of this. From Sanji.

“So you're just going to give up?” Sanji yelled at Zoro’s back. “You’re just gonna walk away? After all this effort you put into this?”

“What do you want me to do?” Zoro whirled around and looked at Sanji again. “You said it yourself, this isn't working. What else do you need to see that this is never going to work?” Sanji stood up and looked Zoro straight in the eye. This was it. He was going to put everything on this last move. 

“Kiss me,” he said, way bolder and more confident than he felt. His knees were shaking. “Kiss me and prove to both of us that this isn't going to work out.” For a few seconds, Sanji thought Zoro would walk out of the room, maybe even out of his life completely.

“What?” Sanji taunted. ”Can’t do it? Are you afraid of me, Zoro?” That seemed to be the last straw needed to push Zoro over the edge. The swordsman approached him with fast steps, grabbed him at the collar of his shirt, and kissed him. It was as forceful as their first one had been, just less sloppy because this time neither of them was drunk.

‘ _ Oh, _ ’ Sanji thought as his knees threatened to buckle. ‘ _ I didn’t really think this one through. _ ’ Instead of backing down however he wrapped his arms around the other’s neck and kissed back with everything he had. 

If this didn't spark anything in the other man then it was probably the last kiss Sanji would ever receive from Zoro and he was determined to make it count. 

And then everything changed.

* * *

Zoro had planned to kiss Sanji and be done with all of it. 

He would prove how bad of an idea all of this was since neither one had any positive feelings for the other. Those phantom feelings would go away and both could return to their normal lives. 

But none of that happened. 

As soon as his lips touched Sanji’s it was like he was coming home. He hadn't even known he was missing something until it was right in front of him, offering itself up like that. The smell, the feel, the taste, all of it felt like straight out of a dream. Or from a faraway memory.

Only that the memory suddenly wasn't that far away anymore. And it wasn't just kissing Sanji. He remembered their time spent together, the way their hands had been intertwined. He remembered the night they had spent sleeping next to each other and he remembered the morning after. He remembered all the little things that Sanji had said and done and all of the things that had made Zoro realize that he didn't want to win the bet for the sake of winning but for the prize at the end of it.

With a bit of reluctance, he pulled away but he knew what he had to do. He didn't get far since Sanji’s hands were still buried in his hair. He pressed one more quick kiss against the cook’s lips.

“Hey Sanji,” he whispered against the other’s lips, “you never answered me when I asked you the last time.” He watched as the other’s eyelids fluttered open and gave him a slightly kiss-drunk and confused look.

“Huh?”

“Are you happy?” He watched as the look of confusion morphed into one of understanding.

“If you’re fucking with me right now, I swear to every god in existence I will end you,” Sanji whispered back, the hope barely concealed in his eyes. Instead of answering Zoro simply grinned at him and pulled him into another mind-blowing kiss. 

This one was slower, more sensual than the last. It made Zoro’s toes curl in his shoes and took his mind back to the sunny morning they had shared with each other. When they pulled apart this time they looked at each other in something akin to wonderment.

“So?” Zoro asked, his voice soft. “Where’s my answer?”

“You absolute shithead,” Sanji answered him. But the tone of his voice and the look on his face were all the answers that Zoro needed. They came together for another kiss that turned into more and more kisses until Sanji pulled away, a giggling, beautiful mess. Zoro raised an eyebrow at him.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“I can’t believe it took a stupid bet for both of us to figure out that we’re stupidly in love with each other.” That made Zoro blush. He had hoped that he was over that particular reaction.

“You really can’t do anything unless it’s a competition, can you?”

“Shut up, you sappy piece of shit.”

“Why don’t you make me,  _ Honey _ ?” Zoro grinned.

“Gladly,  _ Darling _ .”


End file.
